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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




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GOSPEL © SERMONS. 



A Series of Discourses oif *Iftduc|^pn into Christ, 

one each on Church Organization and the 

Origin and Ministry of Angels, 

the Millennium, etc. 



BY 



DR. T. W. BRENTS. 



/^ COP- 

OCT 




^A. 



Nashvii,i.e, Tenn. : 

GOSPEL ADVOCATE PUBLISHING CO., 

189T. 



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coin; 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, by 

GOSPEL ADVOCATE PUBLISHING CO., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



PREFACE. 



On the subject of the Christian rehgion, the Bible is the only in- 
fallible authority in the universe. Good, wise, and great men have 
met in councils, assemblies, presbyteries, conferences, and associa- 
tions, and have formulated creeds, confessions of faith, and disciplines, 
which have been adopted by religious bodies ; but, like all things of 
human origin, they are imperfect. That they are often urong is seen 
in the fact that it is necessary to change, alter, or amend them. 
Translations of the Bible may need revision, but the Bible, as it came 
from tlie inspiring Spirit of God, needs no alteration. Being perfect, 
i4 is not susceptible of improvement. Perfection cannot be improved. 
Science is progressive. Improvements are frequently made. jSew 
discoveries are often developed. But Christianity was perfect when 
it came from its author, and cannot be improved. Man may grow in 
a knowledge of the divine will, so as to more perfectly teach and prac- 
tice it. but to improre it would be to improve perfection itself. This 
cannot be done, and it is unwise to attempt it. 

When we wrote our book on the Gospel Flan of Salvation we did 
not expect that we would ever write another ; hence we sought to 
make it an exhaustive work of its kind. We have found it not a 
little difficult, therefore, in writing this book, to keep entirely clear 
of thoughts presented in that one. In a few places, where sucl». 
thoughts seemed necessary in treating subjects discussed in this 
book, we have referred the reader to that worlv, without transferring 
them to this one. In this book, however, will be found a number of 
subjects not treated in that work at all. Quite a number of sermons, 
which we have been acccustomed to preach, are omitted in this 
book, because the subjects are fully treated in the former work. 

AVe cannot promise that the sermons presented in the following 
pages are exactJy as we have been accustomed to pr(?^ch them. We 
never wrote out a sermon until we wrote it for this book. Nor did 
we ever memorize a sermon in life ; hence the impossibility of writ- 
ing a sermon just as we preached it. We are quite sure that we 
never preached the sam(.^ s'^rmon twice in the same words. We could 
not have done so had we attempted it, and we never tried. AVe 
have preached snbstantiaU!/ the same sermon often, but not in the 
same words. We have always prepared our thoughts, but trusted to 
the occasion to furnish the verbiage in which to present them. 

Whether or not the ivritten sermons will be an improvement on 
the oral, we cannot say. We have yet to see a living speaker who 
could put himself on paper. The sparkling eye — the earnest face — 
the intonations of voice — the impressive gesture, and other things 
which give force to the living orator, cannot be seen in what he 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

writes, however well he may write what was spoken. While this is 
all true, yet book sermons have some advantages over the oral. If 
the hearer fails to catch a thought as it is spoken, it is gone ; but if 
he fails to understand what he reads, he can turn back and read 
again, and again, until he does understand it. If he hears a good 
sermon he may wish his neighbor to have the benefit of it; but he 
cannot always call it up so as to tell it to him ; but if he reads it in a 
book he can lend his book to his neighbor, until he gets the benefit 
of it. The afflicted may read a good sermon, and be edified by it 
when unable to go to preaching at all. Others may live remote from 
any place where they can hear preaching at all, and a book of good 
sermons is a good substitute for a preacher to them. Indeed it mat- 
ters not how much preaching a man hears, he wants something for 
himself and family to read at home. 

But he says : " I have the Bible to read, and that is better than 
any book of sermons." If you will show us a man who reads nothr 
ing but the Bible, we will show you one who reads and understands 
very little of that. He who is anxious to understand the Bible will 
want to read, not only the Bible, but every thing else he can get that 
will help him to understand it. 

Of course no one is responsible for anything in this book but the 
writer, nor does he expect any one to believe it. unless it be in har- 
mony with what the reader conceives the Bible to teach on the sub- 
jects treated. We have written for the purpose of aiding the reader 
in coming to a knov/ledge of what is taught in the Bible. We believe 
the Bible to be a revelation from God, and therefore true. It contains 
all we know of God or the devil — heaven or hell — angels or spirits — 
eternal life or eternal death. We may misconstrue its teachings, but 
we are ever willing to be taught it more perfectly. Nor have w^e any 
inclination to figure or symbolize it all away either. Some construe its 
language quite literally, until it comes in conflict with their peculiar 
hobbies, then it must be symbolic or figurative. Unquestionably 
there are figures and symbols in it, but where they occur the context 
will clearly show them to be such; otherwise we accept the plain 
literal construction ivithout an ^^if" or a ^' but." Plain literal con- 
structions cannot be set aside for no better reason than the preserva- 
tion of a theory. If we may take such liberties as this, then there can 
be no certainty as to what the Bible teaches about any thing. One 
man will figure it to suit him ; another will figure it to suit him ; and 
so there will be no end to such figuring. Surely a theory must be 
doubtful that requires such symbolizing and figuring to support it. _ It 
occurs to us that he w^ho is truly loyal to the Master, is always will- 
ing to accept his teaching without straining it to fit theories. We 
propose to form theories by the Bible, rather than construe the Bible to fit 
theories already formed. If there is any thing in this book that cannot 
survive this treatment let it die ; the sooner it is dead and forgotten 
the better. But, kind reader, if you find that what we have written 
is supported by the plainest teaching of Holy Writ, then let not your 
prejudice keep you from receiving it. If it is not true, you should re- 
ject it, but if it is true, you cannot aff'ord to reject it. To this test we 
most cheerfully submit our work. T. W. B rents. 

Lewisburg, Tenn., Aug. 1, 1891. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I. 
The Mission of John the Baptist 7-21 

CHAPTER II. 
The Sonship of Christ -. 22- 45 

CHAPTER III. 
The Commission 46- 61 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Conversion of the Jailer 62- 75 

CHAPTER V. 
Types and Antitypes, Sliadows and Substances 76- 90 

CHAPTER YI. 

Salvation of the Hebrews from Bondage 91-108 

CHAPTER A^II. 
The Tabernacle 109-130 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Freedom From Sin 131-145 

CHAPTER IX. 
Justification 146-176 

CHAPTER X. 
Regeneration 177-190 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Transfiguration 191-204 

CHAPTER XII. 
Paul's Charge to Timothy 205-220 

CHAPTER XIII. 
A Reason for the Christian's Hope 221-236 

(V) 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Zeal Without Knowledge .237-250 

CHAPTER XV. 
Paul's Natural Man 251-266 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Divine Nature in the Christian 267-281 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Excuses 282-298 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Origin, Mission, and Destiny of Angels 299-323 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The Millennium 824-352 

CHAPTER XX. 
Church Organization 353-410 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Conditional Salvation .411-440 



GOSPEL SERMONS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

" And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the 
Highest ; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to 
prepare his ways ; to give knowledge of salvation unto 
his people by the remission of their sins." Luke x : 76, 77. 

THIS is tlie language of Zacharias as he prophesied 
hy the Spirit when John was horn. He was to go 
hefore the Lord to prepare a people tor His reception. 
There was perhaps never a time in the world's history 
when the world was farther gone in wickedness than at 
the time when Jesus came. There was not a crime known 
to the whole dark list of wickedness and sin that was 
not practiced by the Jews in those days. The heart 
grows sick in contemplating the picture drawn by Paul 
in his letter to the church at E-ome. Had Jesus come 
without some one going before him to prepare public 
sentiment and reform the people, it is more than proba- 
ble that he would have been murdered before his pre- 
paratory work was complete. Even as it was He often 
had to get away from the rabble privately to keep them 
from killing Him before the time for His crucifixion 
came. Hence the wisdom of God in sending John be- 
fore the Lord to prepare the way before Him. 

(7) 



8 GOSPEL SEllMOJSS. 

The church of God having begun on the day of 
Pentecost, and since the days of John the Baptist, our 
scribes and, preachers have passed by John's work and 
mission, perhaps without giving them that attention 
and study which their importance demands; and as a 
result we think it possible that their connection with the 
establishment of the great spiritual temple has not been 
as clearly seen by every one as may be desirable. 

The conception and birth of John were as purely 
miraculous as were those of Isaac or of Jesus the Christ. 
He was given to his parents when his father was an 
"old man, and his wife well stricken in years;" (Luke 
i: 18,) and the angel Gabriel was sent from the presence 
of God to announce the glad tidings of his birth, the 
character of his life, and the object of his mission. He 
was to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's 
womb, (Luke i: 15) and was to go before the Lord in 
the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the 
fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wis- 
dom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the 
Lord. Luke i: 17. As it was John's God-appointed 
work to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, 
did he perform the work assigned him ? If so, how did he 
prepare them? Whom did he prepare? What posi- 
tion, if any, did they occupy in the spiritual Temple 
when it Was erected ? Our first question is answered by 
answering the second, how did John make ready a peo- 
ple prepared for the Lord? "Well, how did he prepare 
them? He gave them knowledge of salvation. How 
did he give them knowledge of salvation ? By the re- 
mission of their sins. Luke i : 77. Did they have " a 
feeling sense of pardon f Well, yes, they had knowledge 
of salvation by the remission of their sins, and we guess 
they felt like they were pardoned. 



THE xMISSIOX OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 9 

But how did they get knowledge of salvation? We 
suppose they got it by compliance with the conditions 
upon which God authorized John to offer it to them. 

What were the conditions of salvation imposed by 
John? Let us see. "There was a man sent from God 
whose name was John. The same came for a witness 
to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him 
might believe." John i: 7. Then it was necessary 
that men believe, in the days of John. Yes, but what 
were they required to believe ? " John verily baptized 
with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people 
that they should believe on him which should come 
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." Acts xix: 4. 
Thus we see they believed on a Christ to come — we be- 
lieve in a Christ already come; this difference in their 
faith and ours — no more. Christ was the object of their 
faith then, and he is the object of our faith to-day. 

But the theory of salvation by faith alone had not 
been discovered in John's day. "Li those days came 
John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 
and saying, Hepent ye : for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand." Matt, iii: 1, 2. 

In preparing a people for the Lord in John's day it 
was necessary that the wicked should be reformed — 
turned in heart from disobedience to the law of God 
under which, as Jews, they had always lived, to the wis- 
dom of the just; hence John commanded the people to 
repent, and he preached the baptism of repentance; 
that is, a baptism which belonged to or grew out of re- 
pentance; a sorrow for the past, with a determination 
to amend the life ; and he baptised with water unto re- 
pentance. Matt, iii : 2. Thus we see that John's bap- 
tism was both preceded and followed by repentance. 
The former the emotion and resolve of a moment, the 



A. GOSPEL SERMONS. 

latter a life in liarmony with that resolve But their 
repentance Avas toward God in whom, as Jews, they had 
faith, and against whom they had sinned; and having 
repented for violating God's law under which they had 
lived, they were admonished to believe in him who was 
to come. 

It may be well to remark here, that while John's 
mission was confined to the Jews, it was no part of Ju- 
daism. His mission was a special one — he was sent 
from God. John i : 6. He lived under the law of 
Moses and complied with it as any other Jew, but his 
preaching and baptizing were done, not in obedience to 
that law, but by direct authority- from God. Said he: 
•' I knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize with 
water, the same said unto me. Upon whom thou shalt 
see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the 
same is he," etc. John i : 33. 

Then God sent John to baptize clothed with special 
authority ; and it is idle to talk of John baptizing in 
obedience to Jewish law. Let him who so af&rms tell 
us the chapter and verse in the law of Moses under 
which John preached and baptized. 

But what was the result of John's preaching? "And 
there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they 
of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river 
of Jordan, confessing their sins." Mark i : 5. 

But for what did John baptize? He "preached the 
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." 
Mark i: 4; Luke iii: 3. What did he preach for re- 
mission of sins? Certainly that baptism that belonged to 
repentance. However important faith may be there is 
nothing affirmed of it here; nor is there anything af- 
firmed of repentance, only that it was connected with 
the baptism p)reached by John for remission of sins. Sup- 



THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 11 

pose I say "the coat of my friend kept me warm?" 
What do I say kept me warm? Certainly the coat that 
belonged to my friend kept me warm. Again : " The 
house of my friend gave me shelter for the night." 
What do I say gave me shelter? Certainly the house 
that belonged to my friend gave me shelter. Very well 
— the baptism of repentance for remission of sins — what 
is for the remission of sins? Certainly the baptism 
that followed or belonged to repentance. If this is not 
plain and conclusive then human language can make 
nothing so. 

But what have we found now? Let us post up a 
little. 

John's mission was a preparatory one — he came to 
make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He came 
from God to bear witness of the Light. Said he, " I saw 
and bear record that this is the Son of God." Again, 
" Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of 
the world." The object of his testimony was that all 
men through him might believe — believe in him who 
was to come after him. Then faith was necessary and 
John preached it. Repentance was necessary and John 
preached that also. Baptism for the remission of sins 
was necessary and John preached and practiced this; 
and thus he gave knowledge of. salvation to his people 
by the remission of their sins. Every one who accepted 
the terms was made ready for the Lord, but every one 
who refused to obey, rejected the counsel of God against 
themselves not being baptized with the baptism of John. 
Luke vii : 30. 

"I^ow, when Jesus had heard that John was cast into 
prison, he departed into Galilee; and leaving [N'azareth 
he came and dwelt in Capernaum." Matt, iv: 12, 13. 
"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, 



12 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt, 
iv: 17. 

Jesus seems to have been in Judea when he heard 
that John was cast into prison, and when he heard it he 
departed into Galilee. IlTazareth had been the home of 
his childhood, but he now left it and went to dvell iu 
Capernaum and from that time he began to preach the 
same thing in Galilee that John had preached in the 
wilderness of Judea, " Eepent for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand." Matt, iii : 1. 

When John's preparatory work was ended and the 
fullness of time came for Jesus to enter upon, and con* 
tinue the proclamation of the approaching kingdom it 
was necessary that his apostles be selected to carry for- 
ward this preparatory work, hence Jesus "came to his 
own, and his own received him not; but as many as re- 
ceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons 
of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 
i:ll, 12. 

Jesus came to his oivn, ivhof His own, the Jews, says 
every one at once. It is an old maxim, that "what every- 
body says must be true," and we freel}^ admit that a 
construction put upon a Scripture, by everybody, for a 
long time, should be abandoned only after very careful 
examination ; but when so examined and found errone- 
ous it should be given up, however hoary with years or 
honorable of parentage. This has been the universally 
received construction put upon this passage for so long 
that it will be almost if not quite impossible to get a 
faithful re-hearing on the subject. Many are publicly 
committed, and they must not be expected to go back 
on themselves. We once accepted the common theory 
without examination, but it does not hart us at all to 
,say we were wrong, for we are most thoroughly con- 



THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 13 

vinced that it is not the thought, and we have been so 
convinced for several years. 

John came to make ready a people prepared for the 
Lord; did he prepare them? Yes. Did he prepare the 
Jewish nation ? No, only a part of it. How did John 
prepare those he made ready ? He gave them knowl- 
edge of salvation by the remission of their sins. Were 
these the Lord's people? Yes, for it is said he (John,) 
gave knowledge of salvation to his (the Lord's) people. 
Here those that John prepared are called the Lord's 
people. To whom did Jesus come? He came to his 
own. Well, what is the difference between his own to 
whom he came — the people John made ready, prepared 
for him, and his people to whom he gave knowledge of 
salvation by the remission of their sins ? 

When Jesus came to select his apostles did he come 
to those made ready for him by John ? He did, and we 
know that some of his apostles were John's disciples, 
and there is strong reason for believing that all of the 
twelve were, and perhaps the seventy also. When 
Jesus came to his own did he come to the Jews ? 'No, 
he did not need to come to them, for his mother was a 
Jewess, and he had been among them all his life. Had 
the inspired writer been seeking to guard us against this 
very thought, we see not how he could have selected 
language better calculated to protect us than the lan- 
guage employed. Let us look at it a little. He tells us 
that his oivn to whom Jesus came loere born (past tense 
equivalent to had been born) " not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of G-od," 
(verse 13.) Bear in mind these were born when Jesus 
came to them, not of blood; had not every Jew been 
born of blood? If not, who had? E'ot born of the 
will of the flesh — had not every Jew been born of the 



14 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

will of the ilesh just like other people? ^N^ot of the 
will of man — had not all Jews been born of the will of 
man just as other men. But his own to whom Jesus 
came had been born in a diiferent sense — how ? Born 
of God. Yes, but born of God, how ? Bv being born 
of, or complying with that system of means which God 
sent John to preach to them. We are, if Christians, 
children of God to-day, begotten of him. Begotten of 
him through the gospel. The gospel presents a system 
of means by compliance with which we become God's 
children, then why is it not true that John's disciples 
had all been born of God when Jesus came to them as 
his own, by having been born of that system of means 
which God sent John to preach to them, and with 
which they had complied? They had believed, re- 
jDented, confessed their sins, and had been baptized by 
John in the river of Jordan for the remission of sins, 
and thus had knowledge of salvation by the remission 
of their sins, hence were ''his people" ''his own" to 
whom he came. 

They all obligated themselves to believe on Christ 
when he should come, but when he did come many of 
them did not receive him or believe on him and hence 
were condemned already because they believed not in 
the name of the only begotten Son of God, but had 
forfeited the obligation they assumed when JTohn bap- 
tized them, by not believing on Jesus when he 
came. 

But to those who kept the obligation assumed when 
baptized by John, and believed on Christ when he came, 
as they covenanted to do, Jesus gave j)oiDer or 'privilege 
to become sons of God when the family should be 
organized on the day of Pentecost without anything 
more. They had believed, repented, been baptized for 



THE MISSION OF JOHX THE BAPTIST. lo 

remission of sins and had knowledge of salvation, what 
need had they of anything more, unless they, in some 
way, forfeited the privileges they had? 

The disciples, made by John, were ready for compan- 
ionship with Jesus, and when they saw him, they fol- 
lowed him, and became his disciples without anything 
more. "Again, the next day after, John stood and two 
of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, 
he said. Behold the Lamb of God! And the two dis- 
ciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus 

One of the two which heard John speak and followed 
him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother." John i : 35-40. 

Thus we see that those made ready by John were his 
people to whom Jesus came, of whom his apostles were 
selected ; and, if they were faithful, had power or priv- 
ilege of becoming sons of God wheii the family should 
be organized. These, and those made by Jesus after 
John's death, became the " charter members " of the 
church on the day of Pentecost. One hundred and 
twenty of them were, with one accord, in one place, but 
they were restrained from operating until endowed with 
power from on high. When the Spirit came and took 
up its abode in the body, the church or spiritual temple 
stood forth. Then Peter preached, made converts, and 
they were added to the church daily. The church was 
established on the day of Pentecost, but it was a church 
before Peter began to preach on that occasion. Adam 
was a man in all his members, before God breathed into 
his nostrils the breath of life, but until then there were 
no vital manifestations; so the church existed in its 
material before the day of Pentecost; but, until the 
Spirit came to give it poiuer and life, neither power nor 
life was manifested. When Jesus became King in Zion 
— head over all things to the church and the spirit vital- 



16 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

ized the body, it went to work, before a convert was 
made, on the birthday of the church. 

The temple of Solomon was typical of the church 
(see 1 Cor. iii : 16, 17,) and the temple was built of pre- 
pared stones, made ready for position before it was 
brought from the quarry, so that there was neither 
hammer, nor ax, nor tool of iron heard in the house 
while it was in building. 1 Kings vi: 7. So the spirit- 
ual temple was made of prepared material, not a piece 
had to be worked over before it was ready for position in 
the temple or spiritual family organized on that day. 
It needed nothing, but the Holy Spirit. 

The very fact that John gave the approach of the 
kingdom as a reason why the people should repent 
shows that the reformation enjoined by him had reference 
to citizenship in the coming kingdom. 

But if the disciples of John had to be baptized on or 
after Pentecost to enter the church or family of Grod, 
then the power or privilege of becoming the sons of 
God given to those who kept tlieir obligation by believ- 
ing on him when he came, was mere sounding brass 
and tinkling cymbal. The promise was meaningless to 
them, for they were not a whit in advance of the mur- 
derers of Jesus, for, even they could come into the 
church in that way, on the day of Pentecost and after- 
ward. If this theory be true, then John's ministry teas a 
failure ; and notwithstanding all the miracles' attending 
it, his mission seems to us a most ridiculous farce ; there- 
fore true it cannot be. 

But was not some of John's disciples baptized after 
Pentecost? We answer, not one. Let him who so af- 
firms show who, lohen and where. Were not the disciples 
found by Paul at Ephesus rebaptized? Yes, but it re- 
maijis to be shown that they were John's disciples. Let 



THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 17 

US see. "And a certain Jew called Apollos, born at 
Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scrip- 
tures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in 
the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the spirit he 
spake and taught diUgently the things of the Lord 
knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to 
speak boldly in the s}' nagogue, whom when Aquila and 
Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and ex- 
pounded unto him the way of God more perfectly." 
Acts xviii: 24-26. iN'ow, were the disciples wade by 
Apollos the disciples of John? Surely not. We may 
well imagine the correction given by Aquila and Pris- 
cilla : "John's baptism was valid in its day, but John 
obligated those baptized by him to believe in a Savior 
to come, for then he had not come ; but since he has 
come, died for the sins of the world, entered the grave 
and brought about a resurrection from the dead for 
all the race, and having all authority in heaven and 
on earth, commands penitent believers to be baptized 
into the sublime names of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit. This baptism has superceded all 
others and is in force now, why be baptizing with John's 
baptism setting aside that ordained by Christ?" 

The moment they said they had not so much as heard 
whether there be any Holy Spirit, Paul knew there was 
something wrong with their baptism, for the name Holy 
Spirit was a part of the formula into which they would 
have been baptized, if it had been correctly done; hence 
his question "^unto what then were you baptized? And 
they said, unto John's baptism." This explains the 
whole matter. John's baptism was valid until super- 
ceded, since that of course it is not. Were a man bap- 
tized with it to-day it would be just as good, and no 
better, than the baptism of those disciples found by 
2 



18 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Paul at Ephesns, but he would surely not he a disciple of 
John, neither were they. 

But it is said John's baptism was simply that 
Christ should be made manifest to Israel. Well, if this 
was its only object, then it was not necessary to baptize 
any others but Jesus. The passage reads, "And I knew 
him not : but that he should be made manifest to Israel, 
therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John 
bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from 
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I 
knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with 
water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt 
see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the 
same is he which baptizeth with the Holy G-host. And 
I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God." 
John i : 31-34. At his baptism he was made manifest to 
Israel, because the Spirit abode upon him, and God ac- 
knowledged him as his Son ; but was it necessary to baptize 
the multitudes for this purjyose ? Nay verily, they were 
baptized for the remission of sins to fit them for position 
in the kingdom, with those who might come into it on 
the day of Pentecost and after that time. What they 
were commanded to do by John ivas to be done because 
the kingdom loas at hand, and what bearing could its 
coming have on what they were required to do unless 
they were doing it to prepare them for position in the 
kingdom when it should come? 

But as John's disciples were baptized by him for the 
remission of sins, and as Peter commanded the Pente- 
costians to be baptized /or the remission of sins, for what 
should John's disciples be baptized who had been bap- 
tized for remission already ? 0, they had to be baptized 
to get into the kingdom, into which they could not enter 
when baptized by John because it did not exist. This 



THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 19 

goes upon the presumption that all the material used in 
the construction of a house must go in at the same door 
through which the house is entered after its construction. 
In short, this theory ignores John's mission entirely, 
hence his miraculous conception, birth, and fullness with 
the Holy Spirit from birth, and the multitudes flocking 
to him to be baptized of him, was all much ado about 
nothing, for he was indeed but a reed shaken by the ivind. 

We must bear in mind that the teaching of John and 
Jesus was chiefly preparatory, prospective, hence in par- 
ables and flgures which gave place in due time to literal 
realities ; but if we undertake to make literals out of figures 
we are likely to get into trouble. 

We are sometimes told that there w^as not tin;e enough 
to have immersed the three thousand baptized on the 
day of Pentecost, hence they were not immersed. 

By mathematical calculation it can be shown that 
there was ample time to have baptized twice the num- 
ber; but before making this objection it might be well 
for those making it to prove that three thousand were bap- 
tized on that day. " Does not the Bible say that three 
thousand were baptized the same day ? " No, it says no 
such thing. Well what does it say? It says that as 
many as gladly received his word were baptized. Yes, 
just that many — no more. And we remark in passing, 
that infants could not have gladly received the word, 
and as none were baptized that could not so receive it, 
it follows that not an infant was baptized on that occa- 
sion. Is it not a little strange, that among so many there 
was not one dear little babe baptized ? 

But to return. As many as gladly received his word 
were baptized — how many did thus receive it ? We do 
not know — does any one ? 

But three thousand were added unto them the same 



20 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

day ; were they added without baptism ? ]N"o, none were 
added without being baptized, unless they had been bap- 
tized before. But if there were any there who had been 
baptized by John, or by the disciples of Jesus under their 
first commission, they were ready to be added without 
baptism. Were any such there ? Most likely there were. 
We can scarcely conclude that, of all the multitudes so 
baptized, only one hundred and twenty were ih that city 
and country. In arguing the resurrection of Jesus, 
Paul says, " He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve ; 
after that he was seen of more than five hundred breth- 
ren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this 
present, but some are fallen asleep." 1 Cor. xv : 5, 6. 
Here are more than five hundred brethren who saw the 
Lord after His resurrection ; and how many there were 
that did not see Him, we have no means of knowing. 
Would not these have been as likely to be brought 
together by the things noised abroad on that occasion, 
as the rabble ? These were.doubtless expecting remark- 
able events ; and would have been, we think, even more 
likely to come to the sceiie than others. Then they 
were ready to be added without baptism; and these ^ve 
hundred would have reduced the number to twenty -five 
hundred. And how many more of that class there were, 
no one can tell. Hence no man can tell how many were 
baptized that day. 

We insist that the construction of the language raises 
a presumption that not all of those added were baptized 
that day. Why not say, " Three thousand gladly 
received his word, and were baptized, and added to them 
the same day." This would have stated the case with- 
out ambiguity, and we conclude that the only reason it 
was not so expressed, was, that the fact loas not that way. 

"As many as gladly received his word were baptized." 



THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 21 

This is a complete affirmation in itself. Then follows 
another. " The same day there were added unto them 
about three thousand souls." This is a full and complete 
affirmation. Now why make the two affirmations while 
one would have been so much shorter and more clear. 
As stated before, the presumption is that the fact was 
not that way. 

But our object in introducing this thought here is to 
call attention to the fact that those previously baptized 
by John, or the disciples in preparing material for the 
Kingdom were ready for position in the church without 
a second baptism. How many were baptized that day, 
we do not know; and we are quite sure that no one else 
knows. 

Other minor matters might be mentioned, but w^e think 
we have struck the most important. We are not vain 
enough to suppose that our positions will all be accepted 
without criticism, but we are sure we have Christian 
love and patience enough to enable us to meekly hear 
anything that may come. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 

"What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?" 
Matt, xxii: 42. 

THE faith of man seems to be like the vibrating pen- 
dulum of a clock ; when it goes in one direction as 
far as it can, and turns back, it goes just as far in the other 
direction ; and thus it seems ever swinging from one 
extreme to another. When the pendulum ceases to 
move it seeks a perpendicular, midway between the two 
extremes ; but then the clock no longer keeps the time, 
and becomes worthless. The truth is generally to be 
found, like the perpendicular, between the two ex- 
tremes ; but men seem to think that if they stop there 
they will be as worthless as the clock ; and hence they 
are rarely content until they swing off into one extreme 
or the other. 

These extremes are clearly seen in the faith of men 
concerning Jesus Christ. Trinitarians insist that He is 
the very and eternal God; and if you deny this they set 
you down as denying the divinity of Jesus Christ. The 
Unitarian believes that He was entirely human — a 
very good man, but simply, and only man. We think 
the truth is unquestionably between these extremes. 
Neither Trinitarianism nor Unitarianism is true. I^o 
one is commanded to believe either ; nor is he promised 
any thing for believing either; nor is he threatened with 
any punishment if he fails to believe either. On the 
contrary, he who fails to believe that Jesus Christ is the 
son of God will be lost — forever lost. Jesus said to the 
(22) 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 23 

unbelieving Jews: " If ye believe not that I am he, ye 
shall (lie in your sins." John viii: 24. 

Men believe this they tell us, but at the same time they 
believe that "Jesus Christ was, is, and ever will be the 
only true God." We once debated this proposition, 
worded just this way. How any one can believe it, is 
more than we can understand. He was both Father and 
Son; the sender and the sent; the mediator and one 
party to the mediation ; equal to the Father, and the 
Father greater than the Son; seated at the right hand 
of the Father, and was the Father. Lord Bacon said, 
"A Christian is one who believes three to be one, and 
one to be three; a father not to be older than his son, a 
son to be equal to his father, and one proceeding from 
both to be equal to both ; a virgin to be the mother of a 
son, and that very son to be her maker. The more 
incredible and absurd a divine mystery is, the more do 
we honor God in believing it, and so much the nobler is 
the victory of faith." God is never honored by believing 
any such incredible and absurd thing, because He is not 
the author of any such thing; nor did He ever command 
any one to believe any such thing ; and fortunate it is 
that He did not; for it must have filled the world with 
infidels if He had required any such taith as this. 

When a man reaches the point that the more incredi- 
ble and absurd a thing is the stronger he believes it; and 
feels that he is all the more honoring God in believing 
it, he wdll reject every thing that is not incredible and 
absurd ; and he will reject it because he can understand it. 
He concludes that whatever is not incomprehensible, is not 
in harmony with his ideas of God, and therefore is 
unworthy of belief. Is it possible that any one can work 
himself into such condition as this ? Don't deceive 
yourself. Their name is legion. How much better was 



24 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Lord Bacon's theory ? But we are not expecting to 
benefit such. 

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD. 

This is the grand central truth of the Christian relig- 
ion. It is that around which revolves every thing con- 
nected with the scheme of human redemption ; hence 
there is more and stronger proof establishing it than 
any one proposition of which the Bible treats. John 
says : " If we receive the witness of men, the witness of 
God is greater ; for this is the witness of God which he 
hath testified of his Son. He that believetli on the Son 
of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth 
not God hath made him a liar ; because he believeth not 
the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the 
record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this 
life is in his Son. He that hath the Son, hath life; and 
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These 
things have I written unto you, that believe on the name 
of the Son of God ; that ye may know that ye have eter- 
nal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son 
of God." 1 John v : 9-13. 

This is the testimony that God has given of His Son ; 
and he that does not believe it makes God a liar. We 
have not room for all the testimony given us on this 
subject, but we will examine some of it — enough to show 
that it is nothing less than a contradiction of <God Him- 
self to refuse to believe it. 

god's TESTIMONY. ' 

" And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight- 
way out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened 
unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like 
a dove, and lighting upon him; and lo, a voice from 
heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 26 

well pleased." Matt, iii : 16, 17. John said : " And I 
knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to 
Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." 
John i : 31. Thus Jesus was made manifest. God spake 
from heaven to the assembled multitude, in plain and 
unmistakable terms, " This is my beloved Son." This 
testimony came from heaven, when Jesus was coming 
up out of the water. Surely no one will say that the 
water, out of which Jesus came, was heaven from which 
the voice came. The Spirit descended — Jesus came up. 

Once more : On the mount of transfiguration, " a 
bright cloud overshadowed them ; and behold, a voice 
out of tho cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him." Matt, xvii : 5. 
Peter says : " This voice which came from heaven we 
heard, when we were with him in the Holy mount." 
2 Pet. i : 18. 

To every one who believes the Bible, this testimony 
is sufficient to show that Trinitarianism and Unitarianism 
are both false, if there was not another word in the Bible 
on the subject. The voice came from God in heaven to 
where Jesus was on the earth ; and He acknowledged 
Jesus as His Son ; hence He was not the very and eternal 
God ; and as He was the Son of God, He was more than 
man. ^o man is the Son of God in this sense. Thus 
we see that when any one denies that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of God he makes God a liar, for God says, " This 
is my beloved son." This is true, or it is false. This is 
not very well calculated to prove that He was very and 
eternal God. Did God mean that Jesus was the son of 
himself; and the father of himself? 

THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

"And John bear record, saying, I saw the Spirit 



26 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon 
him. And I knew him not : but he that sent me to bap- 
tize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom 
thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on 
him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 
And I saw^, and bear record that this is the Son of God." 
John i : 32-34. This is virtually the testimony of God 
and John together. God told Jolin how he would be 
able to know the Son, and John gives the testimony. 
John heard the Father say, " this is my beloved Son" 
at His baptism, hence he was fully competent to testify 
that Jesus w^as the Son of God ; but he never testified 
that He was the very and eternal God. 

JESUS BORE WITNESS OF HIMSELF. 

" I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father 
that sent me beareth witness of me." Johnviii:18. 
If Jesus was the only true God, then the Father and the 
Son were the same witness. He was the Father of Him- 
self, and the Son of Himself ; and sent Himself. This is 
not respectable nonsense. 

When Jesus restored the blind man to sight, the en- 
raged Jews cast him out. ^' Jesus heard that they had 
cast him out ; and when he had found him, he said unto 
him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He an- 
swered and said, "Who is he. Lord, that I might believe 
on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both 
seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee." John 
ix . 35-37. 

Again : " Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanc- 
tified, and sent into the world. Thou blasphemest; 
because I said, I am the Son of God ? If I do not the 
works of my Father, believe me not ; but if I do, though 
ye believe not me, believe the works ; that 3'e may know, 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 27 

and believe, that the Father is in me and I in him." 
John X : 36-38. 

Once more : " Again the high priest asked him, and 
said unto him. Art thou the Christ, the Son of the 
Blessed? And Jesus said, I am." Mark xiv : 61,62. 
It is said that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God ; 
but this honor was thrust upon Him by His followers. 
We leave these quotations to speak for themselves. 
Many others might be added but these are enough, and 
plain enough. He never claimed to be the very and 
eternal God ; but He did claim to be the Son of God in 
divers places. 

THE apostles' TESTIMONY 

"When Jesus came into the coasts of Csesarea Philippi, 
he asked his disciples, saying. Whom do men say that 
I the Son of man am ? And they said, Some say that 
thou art John the Baptist ; some, Elias ; and others, 
Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, 
But whom say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter an- 
swered and said. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him. 
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood 
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is 
in heaven." Mat. xvi : 13-17. 

This question was propounded to all the apostles and 
answered by Peter in their presence ; hence may be 
regarded as the answer of all of them. And as Peter's 
answer was made known or revealed to him by the 
Father it was the testimony of the Father. And as Jesus 
blessed Peter for making it, He is fully committed to it. 
So in this quotation we have the combined testimony of 
the Father, the Son, and all the apostles to the fact that 
Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God. 



28 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

When Jesus walked upon the water, to the ship in 
which the apostles were being tossed by the angry waves 
in a howling storm, after saving the doubting Peter from 
a watery grave, He went up into the ship and the wind 
ceased. "They that were in the ship came and wor- 
shipped him, saying. Of a truth thou art the Son of 
God." Matt, xiv : 33. Thus testify the twelve. 

Paul's testimony is in every epistle he wrote. We 
can only give a few samples with which his letters 
abound. His salutations in his letters clearly show that 
the Father and Jesus were a plurality of persons. 
" Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the 
Lord Jesus Christ." Eom. i : 6 ; 1 Cor. i : 3; 2 Cor. i : 2 ; 
GaL i: 3; Ephes. i: 2; Phil, i: 2; CoL i: 2; 1 Thess. 
i : 1 ; 2 Thess. i. 2 ; 1 Tim. i : 2 ; 2 Tim. i: 2 ; Tit. i : 4. 
Why make such distinctions between God our Father 
and the Lord Jesus Christ if they were the same person ? 
But he says : " God is faithful, by whom ye were called 
unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." 
1 Cor. i : 9. This shows not only a plurality of persons, 
but that Jesus Christ our Lord was God's Son. 

THE TESTIMONY OF DEVILS. 

" And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down 
before him, and cried, saying. Thou art the Son of 
God." Markiii:ll. "And devils also came out of 
many, crying out, and saying. Thou art Christ the Son 
of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to 
speak : for they knew that he was Christ." Luke iv : 41. 

THE TESTIMONY OF THE WICKED. 

" IN'ow when the centurion, and they that were with 
him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those 
things that were done, they feared greatly, saying. Truly 
this was the Son of God." Matt, xxvii . 54. Thus we 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 29 

have the testimony of God, the Father ; John the Bap- 
tist ; Jesus Christ ; all the apostles ; devils; and wicked 
men to the fact that Jesus Christ was, and is the Son of 
God, not one of them testifies that he was the very and 
eternal God. 

THE TESTIMONY OF MIRACLES. 

" Then came the Jews round ahout him, and said unto 
him, How long dost thou "make us to doubt? If thou 
be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told 
you, and ye believed not ; the works that I do in my 
Father's name, they bear witness of me." John x : 
24, 25. 

" Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the 
Father in me ? The w^ords that I speak unto you T 
speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, 
he doeth the w^orks. Believe me that I am in the Father 
and the Father in me ; or else believe me for the very 
works' sake." John xiv : 10, 11. 

Jesus here intimates that the works wrought by him 
were done by the Father through him. These were 
stronger, or more convincing testimony than even what 
he had told them, though his words were given him by 
the Father. They might not believe what he said, but 
how could they disregard what he did before their eyes. 
These they saw^, and were bound to know that unaided 
human power could not do them. Who could see him 
hush to silence the howling storm ; calm the surging waves 
of the sea of Galilee, and walk upon them as a pavement 
beneath his feet ; open the eyes of those who had been 
born blind; unstop the ears of the deaf; cure all man- 
ner of disease, even the loathsome leprosy ; cast out 
devils by the legion ; and raise the dead to life and 
health, without being convinced as was ^icodemus: 
" Xo man can do these miracles that thou doest ex- 



30 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

cept God be with, him." John iii : 2. God would not 
have aided aa impostor to do these things, nor could 
an impostor have done them himself; hence that he 
was what he claimed to be his miracles abundantly 
show. " And many other signs truly did Jesus in the 
presence of his disciples which are not written in this 
book ; but these are written that ye might believe that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing 
ye might have life through his name." John xx : 31. 

The miracles which Jesus did are recorded to prove 
that he is the Son of God ; so that sinners, in need of 
salvation, may have an intelligent faith in him ; and 
yield a hearty obedience to him ; that they may 
have eternal life through him. "• Not every one 
that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my 
Father which is in heaven." Matt, vii : 21. But sup- 
pose a man believes that He is the very and eternal God, 
will that secure the same blessings that were intended 
for him who believes that He is the Son of God ? Why 
not? If these propositions are the same why not as 
well believe one as the other ? 

This is the faith that must be confessed in order that 
God may dwell in us, and we in him. "Whosoever 
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth 
in him and he in God." 1 John iv : 15. Surely there 
can be no more sacred relationship than this. Will it 
do just as well to confess that Jesus is the only true God 
as to confess what is required of us — that he is the Son 
of God? 

" That which we have heard and seen declare we unto 
you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and 
truly our fellowship is w\ih the Father, and with his Son 
Jesus Christ." 1 John i : 3. Here are two persons 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 31 

with whom the saints have fellowship — the Father and 
his Son Jesus Christ. That they are distinct persons is 
as clear as language can make anything. 

If Jesus Christ was the only true God, then it occurs 
to us that during the three days in which he was dead 
the world was without a God. And we insist that the 
fact that he rose from the dead is conclusive proof that 
he was not the only true God ; for there must have been 
a living power equal to the task of raising to life that 
which was dead, otherwise a resurrection never could 
have been ; and He would have remained dead forever. 

But the Trinitarian smiles at this difficulty when it is 
presented; saying: "It was only humanity that died. 
As God He did not die. As man. He wept, suffered and 
died ; as God, He rose from the dead." Plausible as 
this theory may appear, it is both contradictory and 
unreasonable. How could He, as God, rise from the 
dead, if, as God, He did not die? Only that which died 
could be raised from the dead. If only humanity died, 
then only humanity was raised from the dead. It mat- 
ters not by what power that which was dead, was made 
alive, only that which was dead could be raised from 
the dead. If that which was raised did not die, then 
there was no resurrection of the dead at all. The whole 
theory of a resurrection of the dead was a sham, a fraud, 
a deception, and all oar hopes of a resurrection of the 
dead through Christ are delusions. "And if Christ be 
not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is 
also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of 
God ; because we have testified of God that he raised up 
Christ; whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead 
rise not ; for if the dead rise not, then is not Christ 
raised : and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ; 
ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen 



32 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we 
have hope m Christ, we are of all men most miserable." 
1 Cor. XV : 14-19. 

It was the fact that Jesus Christ was the Son of God 
that gave efficacy to the blood of the atonement. " But 
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have 
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus 
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John i : 7. It 
occurs to us that if nothing more than humanity died 
when Jesus died, the blood of any other man would 
have been as efficacious in cleansing from sin as would 
the blood of Jesus. " For God so loved the world, that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
eth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the 
world ; but that the world, through him might be 
saved." John iii ; 16, 17. Thus we see that it took 
richer blood than that of mere humanity to secure the 
world's redemption. It took nothing less than the 
blood of God's ovm Son to magnify his law and make it 
possible for him to be just and pardon those who vio- 
lated his law. 

John says. " In this was manifested the love of God 
toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son 
into the world, that we might live through him. Here- 
in is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, 
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 
John iv: 9, 10. ^ow if nothing but humanity suffered, 
as Jesus derived, all that from Ms mother, then there was 
nothing sent from God that suffered at all. And it 
looks a little like God sent himself to earth, and placed 
himself in a human body, made of a woman; and sub- 
mitted that body to be crucified, while he. the Divinity, 
suffered not at all, and then claimed to have so loved 



THE SONSHIP OP CHRIST. 33 

the world as to give his only Son to suffer and to die 
for it. This claim -was unjust according to this theory ; 
for it was only the Mary part of Jesus that suffered and 
died ; for the divine part was God himself and he never 
suffered at all. We cannot very well understand such 
a sending as this. In place of sending any one or any 
thing, he came himself, and did not suffer any when he 
came. Mary made all the sacrifice — God made none. 
Such a theory is a slander upon God and his Son, both. 

It really seems to us .that there was quite a useless 
commotion in the material universe when Jesus died if 
only humanity suffered. The sun, '' the bright orb of 
day," that had never refused to give his light from the 
time God swung him in the heavens until then, refused 
to light up a scene like that, and the earth was mantled 
in darkness for three long hours. The earth trembled 
as a leaf, until the rocks about Jerusalem were broken : 
and the veil of the temple, that had stood for ages, was 
rent from top to bottom. Why all this? Humanity is 
suffering on the cross. Humanity had suffered in the 
death of men every hour of every day for a thousand 
years ; but nothing like these things had ever occurred 
before. Then again we ask, why all this ? The truth 
is, the Son of God is dying ; and the heavens and the 
earth are in commotion. We say, as did those who 
stood by : " Truly this was the Son of God." Matt, 
xxvii: 54. 

" Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, 
sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast 
thou prepared me : In burnt oflerings and sacrifices 
for sin thou hast had no pleasure." Heb. x : 5, 6. If 
the body of Jesus Christ was wholly human, it was an 
exception to all law known to us. It is a fact well 
known, even by common observation, to say nothing 
3 



34 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

of any thing else, that physical appearance and general 
temperament are derived from the father as well as from 
the nnother. Indeed it is within the observation of 
every man that has given attention to the subject that 
comjplexion is derived even more from the father than 
from the mother ; so much so that in the course of 
many generations the color of the mother is lost in that 
of the father. We predicate nothing of this, however ; 
the idea to which we object is that the body and blood 
of Jesus Christ is entirely human, like his mother, and 
partook not of the nature of the Father at all. This ab- 
surdity is assumed to justify the theory that nothing 
but humanity suffered on the cross. A body that did 
not partake of the nature of Father and mother both, 
has never been seen on this earth — never. 

It is all a myth too, that the divinity that was in 
Jesus Christ was the power by which he arose from the 
dead. Paul says : " That if thou shalt confess with thy 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart 
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be 
saved.'' Hom. x : 9. We have already quoted him 
saying: " Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God ; 
because we have testified of God that he raised up 
Christ ; whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead 
rise not." 1 Cor. xv : 15. 

Peter said : " This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof 
we all are witnesses." Acts ii : 32. '' Be it known unto 
you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name 
of Jesus Christ of !N"azareth, whom ye crucified, whom 
God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man 
stand here before you whole." Acts iv : 10. " But God 
raised him from the dead." Acts xiii : 30. It was by 
the power of God that Jesus was raised from the dead — 



THE SONSHIP OF chuist. 35 

not by any inherent quality in Him, either human or 
divine. 

But we must further notice a quotation made some 
time ago : " Believest thou not that I am in the Father, 
and the Father in me. The words that I speak unto 
you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwell- 
eth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am 
in the Father, and the Father in me.' 'John xiv : 10, 11. 
We are told that as the Father was in the Son, and the 
Son in the Father they were necessarily the same per- 
son. Well, in the 20th verse of the same chapter He 
says : " At that day ye shall know that I am in my Fa- 
ther, and ye in me and I in you." Did the Savior in- 
tend to teach that the disciples and he were, or ever 
w^ould be the same persons because they should know 
that they were in him and he in them ? Hardly, we 
suppose, yet the form of expression is the same, and if 
it does not prove that Christ and the apostles were one 
in person, neither does it prove that God and his Son 
were the same person. 

Again : " Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the 
Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God." 1 
John iv : 15. Are we to understand that those who 
make this confession and God, himself, are, or ever will 
be one in person ? We suppose not, yet the same style 
is used with reference to their dwelling in God, and God 
in them, that is used with reference to the Father being 
in the Son, and the Son in the Father. If the same lan- 
guage cannot prove one proposition it cannot prove the 
other. All the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Jesus 
Christ. The nature, attributes, and purposes of God 
were in his Son, and hence they were said to be in each 
other. 

But Jesus said : " I and my Father are one." John 



36 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

X : 30. Yes, and he said a man and his wife were one, 
but he expected them to remain two persons — a man 
and a w^oman as before. They were one in purpose and 
sympathy, (Matt, xix : 5, 6) but not one person, surely. 

Jesus prayed : " Holy Father, keep through thine 
own name those wliom thou hast given me, that they 
may be one as we are." John xvii : 11. Yerse 22, 
" And the glory which thou gavest me I have given 
them : that they may be one even as we are one." 
Did Jesus pray that the apostles might become one per- 
son ? Surely not. But he did pray that the apostles 
might be one in the same sense that he and his Father 
w^ere one. Then if the apostles were different persons, 
and would so remain, it is certain that He and His Fa- 
ther were different persons. From this conclusion there 
is no escape. Then as God and his Son were one in 
spirit, object and work, so He prayed that His apostles 
might be perfectly harmonious in all their laboi-s for 
the salvation of man. Paul admonished the brethren at 
Corinth to this unity. " Now I beseech you, brethren, by 
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the 
same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; 
but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same 
mind and in the same judgment." 1 Cor. i : 10. Christ 
prayed for this unity among the apostles and he prayed 
for them to be one as he and his Father were one. 

" For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have 
loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 
I came forth from the Father, and am come into the 
world ; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." 
John xvi : 27, 28. If this does not show that while 
Jesus was on the earth he and his Father were, in some 
sense, in difierent localities, and were different persons, 
then we may as well pronounce the New Testament a 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 37 

riddle and beyond liuman comprehension, on this sub- 
ject at least. 

" Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and 
come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, 
because I said, I go unto the Father : for my Father is 
greater than I." John xiv : 28. 

Jesus said : " I am the true vine and my Father is 
the husbandman." John xv : 1. This expression was 
taken from real life. In horticulture there are the vine, 
the branches, and the husbandman, or dresser of the 
vine. Then in order that the figure may fit that which 
is illustrated the husbandman cannot be the vine 
dressed by Him. Then Jesus Christ, the vine, could 
not have been the Father, or dresser of the vine. 
. Jesus prayed to the Father. John xvii. Matt, 
xxvi : 39-44. Mark i : 35 ; xiv : 35-39. Luke i : 35 ; 
xxii : 41. Prayer suggests two persons — one to pray, 
and another to pray to. The prayers of Jesus were 
senseless if Trinitarianism be true. But they tell us it was 
the humanity praying to the divinity. When did the 
humanity of Jesus begin ? ^ot until he was conceived 
by the Virgin Mary. Very well, then, we will hear 
him pray to his Father : " Father, glorify thou me 
with the glory which I had with thee before the world 
was." John 17 : 5. Jesus then had a glory with the 
Father before the world was. As his humanity began 
at the conception this could not have been the humanity 
with the Father before the world was. This effectually 
disposes of that quibble — that wherever a plurality of 
persons are shown, one was the humanity and the other 
the divinity. 

John says : "In the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The 
same was in the beginning with God." John i : 1, 2. 



38 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

The preposition loith^ twice occurring in this quotation, 
clearly shows companionship^ association of two or more 
'parties, agreeing with the expression, ''The glory I had 
with thee before the world was," as seen above. 

But He was God. Yes, but let us be careful not to 
add any thing to that which is written. It does not say 
He was the only God ; nor does it say He was the very 
and eternal God. He was the manifestation of God's 
power in creation as seen in the next verse ; and He was 
called God because He inherited the name of His Fa- 
ther. " Being made so much better than the angels, as 
he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name 
than they." Heb. i : 4. 

Stephen saw Him at the right hand of God. " But 
he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly 
into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus stand- 
ing on the right hand of God, and said. Behold, I see 
the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on 
the right hand of God." Acts vii : 55, 56. 

" So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was 
received np into heaven, and sat on the right hand ot 
God. Mark xvi : 19. We suppose that it will not be 
contended that it was the humanity which Stephen saw 
at the right hand of the Divinity in heaven. 

Jesus is our mediator. " For there is one God, and 
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; 
who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in 
due time." 1 Tim. ii : 5, 6. The idea of mediation 
suggests at least three parties, a mediator and two par- 
ties between which the mediation is had. God was one 
party, man another, and Jesus Christ the mediator be- 
tween God and man. Surely Jesus did not mediate be- 
tween himself and the people. A mediator, to be com- 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 39 

petent must be entirely disconnected from both parties, 
or equally related to both, so that no charge of partial- 
ity can be brought against him. Jesus was just such a 
character. He was divine and he was human. He was 
Son of God and Son of man. His father was divine, 
his mother was human. He was as nearly related to 
man as to God. In him humanity and divinity met — 
pre-eminently fitting him to be mediator between God 
and men. 

Just to what extent, or even how humanity and divin- 
ity were blended in Jesus Christ we may never perfectly 
comprehend ; but we do know that he was born of a 
woman, that he hungered, thirsted, wept with those in 
distress, and sympathized with suffering humanity ; 
that he was tempted — sorely tempted as we are, yet 
without sin ; that he was touched with the feeling of our 
infirmity ; that he took not on him the nature of angels 
but the seed of Abraham ; hence we know that if we 
sin we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus 
Christ the righteous ; and we gladly trust our cause to 
the care of such an advocate. He says : ''I am the 
way, the truth, and the life. N^o man cometh unto the 
Father but by me." All our approaches to the Father 
are made through our advocate — our mediator — our 
high priest. We have no worth or merit in ourselves 
to commend us to the favor of God. Our coiafidence is 
in Jesus, who as our advocate will order our cause 
aright — in our mediator who will intercede for us — in 
our high priest who will present all our offerings before 
the mercy-seat. 

" "What a friend we have in Jesus, 
All our sins and griefs to bear ; 
What a privilege to carry 
Every thing to God in prayer." 



40 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

That Jesus Christ is the Son of God has ah^eadj been 
fully sho\yn. His divine character may be further seen in 
his sinless life. I^ever did man pass through such 
trials, and persecutions as he, and yet remain undefiled 
by sin. He did no sin, neither was guile found in his 
mouth. When he was reviled, he reviled not again ; 
when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed 
himself to him that judgeth righteously. Such purity 
was never seen in any one wholly human. 

But in nothing is the divinitj^ of Christ more clearly 
seen than in his own resurrection from the dead. Paul 
said : " Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he 
will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom 
he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto 
all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 
xvii: 31. The fact that God raised his Son from the 
dead gives assurance unto all men that he was what he 
claimed to be ; and that he would judge the world in 
righteousness by him. God would not have raised an 
impostor, nor could an impostor have raised himself; 
hence, in his resurrection, we have the strongest assur- 
ance of his divine character. 

That he did rise from the dead is as certain as it is 
that the Bible is true. We have seen a number of pass- 
ages spying, in the plainest terms possible, that God 
raised him from the dead. 'Not that he raised himself 
by the divinity that was in him, but that God raised 
him. This being true, we have the strongest possible 
assurance of his divinity that could be given. The tes- 
timony is direct, and as certainly true as it is that God 
cannot lie. 

What is the probable reliability of the testimony of 
the apostles? They all say he arose from the dead and 
that they saw him, and that he was seen by many others 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 41 

— more than ^ve hundred at once. They could not 
have been mistaken in his identity, for they knew him 
well before his death. They had associated with him 
intimately for three years and a half. They ate with 
him, talked with him, and probably slept with him al- 
most continuously ; hence that they knew him is simply 
certain. They could not have been mistaken. They 
either saw him alive after his crucifixion or they fabri- 
cated a stupendous falsehood. Men generally act from 
motive — what motive could have induced them to fabri- 
cate and tell such a lie as this? They did not do it for 
money for Jesus told them he was so poor that he had 
no place to lay his weary head ; and as the soldiers were 
paid to testify falsely it is quite probable that they could 
have made a fortune by giving up the false testimony 
and telling the truth if Jesus did not rise. Their testi- 
mony to the resurrection was false if Jesus did not rise, 
hence they could have exchanged the falsehood for the 
truth and been well paid for it beside. Why did they 
not do it ? What else ? They could not have expected 
to gain popularity by the story of the resurrection, for 
he told them that they would be persecuted and de- 
spised of all men for his sake; and they found this 
quite true. They were put to death for Jesus' sake, 
every one of them but John ; and tradition tells us that 
he was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, and was 
only saved from a martyr's death by a miracle. Whether 
this be true or false, one thing is certain : he did not 
escape the fire of persecution ; for he was banished to 
the isle of Patmos for the word of God, and for the tes- 
timony of Jesus Christ. This we have from his own 
pen (Rev. i : 9). Then they did not hatch up, agree upon, 
and tell their story for popularity. Why did they tell it f 
The persecutions to which they were subjected sepa- 



42 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

rated them, and thej were martyred in different coun- 
tries ; where, the probabilities are, they did not hear 
from eacli other. One could not know that the others 
had not given up the falsehood so as to make it folly 
for him to adhere to it ; and yet they all stuck to it, and 
died on account of it; w^hen they could have saved their 
lives by giving it up and telling the truth. Can any 
sane man believe that they did it ? Is there a parallel 
to it in the world's history anywdiere ? We venture to 
affirm that not one case can be found, where twelve 
men, or more, agreed upon a falsehood, and told it, and 
every one adhered to it, until it brought death upon all 
of them, when they could have saved their lives by giv- 
ing up the falsehood and telling the truth ; and all with- 
out any reward of any kind — with nothing to gain, but 
everything to lose by it. Is it reasonable ? Do you 
think twelve men could be found on the earth to-day 
who would be guilty of such stupendous folly ? Surely 
not. The testimony of the apostles was true. Jesus 
rose from the dead, and they saw, and knew^ him. 
They gave up their lives rather than bear false witness 
against his resurrection. This one fact establishes his 
divine character forever. 

My dear friend, have you pursued and considered the 
testimony here presented ? If so are you not convinced 
that Jesus was more than human ? Nay, -are you not 
convinced that he w^as, and is none other than the Son 
of God ? If so, we ask you as he asked the Jews : 
" Why call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which 
I say?" If you believe him to be the Son of God you 
are under obligations high as heaven, deep as hell, vast 
as the universe to believe every word that fell from his 
lips, to trust every promise he made ; and obey every 
command he gave which applies to such as you. Your 



THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 43 

faith, in him will do you no good unless it moves you to 
love, trust and obey him. Come, then my brother, let 
us renew our devotions to him — love him more and 
serve him better ; and let us cultivate this determina- 
tion, and act upon it, to the last moment of life. God 
help us to do it. 

Friendly sinner, have you no place in your heart's 
deepest affections for love of a Savior like this ? Can 
3^ou look with indifference on the suffering Son of God, 
as he hangs bleeding and dying on the cross for you. 
God loves you. Jesus died for you. Angels are con- 
cerned for you. The church invites you, begs you, 
pleads with you. Your mother weeps over you ; but 
you, the one most interested, are still indifferent and un- 
concerned. The sun refused to shine on the crucifixion 
of Jesus, but you can look upon it without a blush. 
The earth trembled when the Son of God died, but you 
can contemplate it without the tremor of a nerve. The 
solid rocks were shivered, but your heart remains un- 
broken. •^ 

This is an abnormal condition of the human mind. 
IsTo one is so, naturally. He has to educate himself up 
to it. At first he felt deeply when he heard the story of 
the cross. It cost him a desperate struggle to refuse obe- 
dience to the gospel when first he learned the Master's 
will. But every successful resistance hardened him a 
little, and enabled him to resist with less effort the next 
invitation until he reached his present condition. Once 
he could feel, now he cannot. Once he could weep on 
account of his sins and in sympathy with the sufferings 
of Jesus ; now the fountain of his tears is dried up, and 
he can resist the most heart-stirring appeals which hu- 
man tongues can make with the most perfect indiffer- 
ence. When he reaches this condition he is gone. He 



44 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

has passed beyond all the appliances and means by which 
God proposes to save men and he will never return. Re- 
sistance to the devil is right — resistance to God is vain 
and dangerous. do not start in that direction. You 
may soon get so far as to make it difficult to turn back. 

Here we remember an incident of the late war, an ac- 
count of which we read in a paper called " The Chil- 
dren's Quarterly," then published in Lexington, Ky. 
We did not memorize the report, nor did we preserve 
the paper, hence we can only give the substance, as we 
now remember it. 

A man, having a wife and three small children, was 
compelled to go into the army — on which side we do 
not know, nor does it matter. The day of rendezvous 
was authoritatively appointed ; and he made all necessary 
preparation for starting. The day came, and with it 
his neighbors to bid him farewell, and pray God's pro- 
tection upon him. First, he bade his neighbors goodbye, 
then one by one he took up his children, and imprinted 
a father's kiss upon each. ^ Then came the parting from 
his wife. The scene beggars description — it was like 
tearing soul and body asunder. All hearts felt, and all 
eyes wept. In all probability they would never meet 
again. From that dreadful war many never returned, 
hence the parting was severe. Among those present 
was a boy who was too young to be compelled into mil- 
itary service. He bravely stepped forward and took 
the man by the hand and said : " Sir, let me go in your 
place. 1 have no family to leave. If I fall there will 
be no widow left ; nor orphan children to suffer for a 
father's care. Let me go and you stay with your fam- 
ily." The proposition was accepted — the boy went and 
the man stayed at home. It is unnecessary to say 
that that boy made a brave soldier — that he went 



THE SONSHIP OF CHKIST. 45 

under the circumstances assures that fact. On the 
bloody field of Chickamauga in the van of his host he 
fell and never breathed again. When the battle was 
over his friends buried him, as best they could, and 
placed a board at the head of the grave with his name 
and place of address inscribed upon it. They wrote to 
the man m whose place he had gone that the brave boy 
had fallen, and how his grave could be found. The 
man made his way to that grave, disinterred the body, 
took it home and buried it with all the honor he could 
bestow upon it. Over the grave he placed a costly mar- 
ble monument with suitable inscription upon it. 
Among other things inscribed were these impressive 
words : " he died for me." 

This shows that that man appreciated and loved that 
boy. Jesus died for you — have you done as much for 
him? If not, is it not ungrateful in you not to do it? 
Will you not begin it now? Blessed Jesus hast thou 
died for me ? And shall we not live and labor for thee ? 

" See from His head, His hands, His feet, 
Sorrow and love flow mingled down, 

Did e'r such love and sorrow meet ? 
Or thorns compose so rich a crown ? 

"Were the whole realm of nature mine, 

That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so divine. 

Demands my soul, my life, my all." 

Amen and amen. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE COMMISSION. 

THE first religion ever given by God to man after 
his expulsion from the garden of Eden was a 
family religion, i^othing more was needed at that time. 
The race of man consisted of a few families, hence the 
system of worship then given was conducted by the 
father as the head of each family. For this reason it 
was called the Patriarchal dispensation ; and it contin- 
ued until succeeded by the Jewish religion instituted at 
Mount Sinai, the law for which was there given by Grod 
to Moses. 

This was a national religion and was given to Moses 
for the Jewish nation, and continued until it was abro- 
gated by the death of Christ. It was called the Jewish 
dispensation, and began with the giving of the law at 
Sinai, and continued until Christ took it away. This 
was succeeded by the Christian religion co-extensive 
with the race of man. This period is called the Chris- 
tian dispensation, which was fully inaugurated on the 
day of Pentecost, and is destined to continue until Jesus 
comes again, or until time shall be no more. 

God promised Abraham that in him and his seed all 
the families of the earth should be blessed. When, in 
the course of events the time drew near to carry this 
promise into eifect, God sent a harbinger before the 
Lord, the promised seed of Abraham, to make ready a 
people for his reception. Jesus came to this prepared 
(46) 



THE COMMISSION. 47 

people, and of tliem selected his apostles and sent them 
out to further pertect arrangements for the establish- 
ment of a kingdom or system of government for those 
who might desire to become the beneficiaries of this new 
order of things. When the Lord sent these agents on 
this preparatory mission he gave them a restricted com- 
mission, forbidding them to go into any city of the Sa- 
maritans, or among the Gentiles ; but confining their la- 
bors, strictly, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 
When this preparatory work was completed, and the 
time had come for the consummation of God's promise 
to Abraham, Jesus gave these chosen apostles a com- 
mission co-extensive with the human race. As the prom- 
ise was to all the families of the earth, so the commission 
extended to all nations — to every creature in all the world. 
In all lands and countries where man might live, there 
the gospel, as God's power unto salvation would be 
needed, and there the apostles were authorized to go 
and preach it. In the word of God we have three re- 
ports of this commission, one each by Matthew, Mark, 
and Luke, as follow : 

" Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. 
xxviii : 19, 20. 

" Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall 
be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." 
Mark xvi: 15, 16. 

" Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to 
sufier, and to rise from the dead the third day : And 
that repentance and remission of sins should be preached 



48 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

ill his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 
And ye are witnesses of these things." Luke xxiv : 
46-48. 

Before giving this commission Jesus said : " All pow- 
er is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Matt, 
xxviii : 18. There was no power in heaven above that 
he did not have, nor was there any power on the earth 
beneath that had not been delegated to Him ; hence He 
makes this authority the basis of the authority embod- 
ied in the commission given to them. Go ye therefore. 
As the Father had thus delegated all authority to the 
Son, he was fully clothed with power to enlarge the 
area of their operations to the ends of the earth, and 
perpetuate the proclamation of the gospel under this 
commission to the end of all time. This we think he 
certainly intended to do. 

In Matthew's report of this commission there are two 
lessons taught, one each to two classes of persons. The 
first : ^' Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," 
was a charge to to the apostles to teach aliens how to 
become Christians — children of God. The second : 
" Teaching them to observe all things whats()ever I 
have commanded you," had reference to the duties of the 
Christian life and was applicable to those who had be- 
come obedient disciples under the first part of the com- 
mission. With that part of it applicable to the alien we 
have to do at present. 

That this commission is in full force noic, and is ap- 
plicable to all who would honor God's authority to-day, 
is admitted by all who believe the Bible to be an in- 
spired book, and have given any thought to the subject. 
This is evident from the fact that all who administer 
baptism at all use the formula here laid down ; for they 



THE COMxMISSION. 49 

could not so use it if they did not believe the commis- 
sion containing it to be in force. This formula, used by 
all, is found no where else. 

This commission is the great organic law of the Chris- 
tian dispensation. The constitution of the State is the 
organic law of the State. All laws made by legislative 
authority must be in harmony with this constitution, 
otherwise the supreme court will declare them void. 
So had any apostle given any law, either oral or writ- 
ten, not in harmony with this great commission, it-would 
have been a usurpation, for it was the sum of their au- 
thority — they could not go beyond it or come in contact 
with it. Yea, had an angel from heaven preached an- 
other gospel than that authorized by this commission 
the curse of God would have rested upon him. This 
being true, it becomes a matter of very great importance 
to know what is taught in this commission, that we may 
know what we are required to do, and to what we must 
submit . 

If we would understand all that is contained in it we 
must examine all the reports we have of it. If a jury 
would correctly understand a case in court upon which 
they are to render a verdict, they must hear all the tes- 
timony and collate all the facts set out by all the wit- 
nesses brought before them. ' They cannot make up 
their verdict from the testimony of one witness, ignor- 
ing the testimony of other witnesses equally entitled to 
credit. So we must treat the commission if we would 
come to correct conclusions concerning it. We cannot 
take any one report of it and get all there is in it. 

In order that our eyes may assist our ears in seeing 

more clearly the contents of the commission we will 

formulate it, somewhat after the style of an example in 

addition of compound numbers. To do this we write 

4 



50 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

down the several items clearly expressed, and make 
marks of omission for items not expressed though implied 
in some reports, but expressed in others, being careful 
to write items of like significance under each other so 
that the sum of all the items found may appear in a 
connected summary at the bottom of the formula. As 
Matthew comes first in the books of the jS'ew Testament 
we will begin with his report. 

His first item is teach, so we write down Teach, as 
the first item found in the commission. But if the 
apostles were required to teach there must be some one 
or more to teach. Teach ivhom f Matthew answers, all 
nations. Very well, we put all nations as the second item 
reported by him. But if the apostles were required 
to teach, there must not only be persons to teach, but 
there must be something to teach. Teach 2vhat ? Mat- 
thew does not tell us, so we make a sign of omission and 
pass on. But if the apostles were required to teach, 
there must not only be persons to be taught and some- 
thing to teach them, but they must believe what is taught. 
Matthew says nothing about believing, so we make a 
sign of omission here and pass on again. A God-ap- 
proved belief or faith always produces repentance, and 
the necessity of repentance is clearly taught elsewhere ; 
but Matthew says nothing about repentance, so we 
make another mark of omission and pass on. As John 
and the disciples of Jesus have been baptizing all who 
became submissive to the Lord's w^ill, and as Jesus said 
except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he can- 
not enter into the kingdom of Grod, we may expect the 
commission to say something about baptism, hence Mat- 
thew clearly states that the taught are to be baptized — 
then we write down hajjtizing. But no formula has been 
given yet, so if any formula is to be used we may ex- 



THE COMMISSION. 51 

pectitto be found in the commission, and Matthew records 
it, so we write it down. But what is all this for ? Surely 
all this is not required without an object in view. I^^o, 
but Matthew says nothing about the design of it, so we 
make another sign of omission and pass on. This pro- 
cedure must have a beginning somewhere. Matthew 
says nothing about a place to begiii, so we make another 
sign of omission and close his report. 

isText in order comes Mark's report. Corresponding 
to Matthew's teach Mark gives preach. All preaching 
should be teaching, but unfortunately this is not always 
so. We place preach under teach. Corresponding to 
Matthew's all nations, Mark gives us every creature in 
all the world, and we put it down accordingly. Mat- 
thew tells us nothing of what is to be taught, but Mark 
says the gospel is to be preached, hence we are able to fill 
Matthew's first blank with the gospel of Mark's report. 
Matthew says nothing of the necessity of faith, but Mark 
says we must believe, hence with this we supply Mat- 
thew's second omission. Mark, like Matthew^, says 
nothing of repentance, leaving it to be inferred as a re- 
sult of faith. We make our marks of omission and pass 
to baptism, which he mentions as well as Matthew. 
Mark does not give the formula, hence we leave a sign 
of omission here. Mark enables us to supply another 
blank in Matthew's report by giving salvation as the 
blessing promised to those who comply with the stipu- 
lated conditions. But neither Matthew nor Mark tells 
us ivhere operations under this commission are to begin, 
we therefore insert our mark of omission for this, and 
close his report. 

Luke changes the order of the items mentioned in the 
record given by him, but the same order given by the 
others may be followed without at all changing the 



52 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

sense. He gives preaching, and we put it under the 
preacHng in Mark's report. He gives all nations, 
among which the preaching is to be done. He speaks 
of the suflering and resurrection of Christ, impljdng 
burial, which are included in the gospel mentioned by 
Mark. He says nothing of belief, but he enables us to 
till a blank in both the preceding reports with the men- 
tion of repentance. What Mark calls salvation Luke 
calls remission of sins, hence we place this under the word 
saved in Mark's report, having placed marks of omission 
where baptism is placed in both the preceding reports. 
He gives us Jerusalem as the place where the preaching 
is to begin under this commission. 

By thus placing together the three reports left re- 
corded, as we would the testimony of any three wit- 
nesses testifying in court or elsewhere concerning any 
fact to be established by testimony, we certainly get the 
entire contents of this very important portion of Holy 
Writ. Now let us put this formula before our eyes, and 
examine it carefully, comparing it with the reports of 
the inspired historians who have recorded it. Will any 
one say that any thing found in this summary is not 
found in the inspired reports examined ? Is there an 
item which we may rub out? If so, which one is it? 
And by what authority shall we take it away ? Surely 
there nnust be some important changes made if ever this 
commission is made to fit some of the orthodox theories 
of modern times. Some of the items must be canceled, 
and others transposed. And worse still, the same 
changes will not fit all the theories. To fit infant 
baptism, the commission must begin with baptism and 
every thing else must be canceled ; but when the same 
persons baptize adults, they begin with teaching, and 
put baptism after salvation. 



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53 



54 ' GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Let us carefully examine this summary and see if it 
contains any thing which we may safely take away. 
Shall we take away teaching or preaching ? Before 
persons can believe on Christ they must have the testi- 
mony concerning him, for how can they believe in him 
of whom they have not heard ; and how can they hear 
without a preacher. Before any one can obey the gos- 
pel he must know what the gospel requires of him. We 
cannot, therefore, take away the preaching, for it 
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
that believe. 

Can we take away the words, all nations, every creat- 
ure, in all the world ? No, for then the preacher would 
not know where to go, or to whom he should preach. 
The Jews might wish to confine the preaching to them ; 
or the Calvinist might conclude that there was no use 
to preach to any but those elected in Christ to salvation 
before the world began. I guess the Lord fixed that 
item about right and it is best to let it alone. 

Shall we take out the gosjjel ? The preacher might 
not know what to preach. He might get to preaching 
Mormonism, Calvinism, Universalism or something else. 
I guess we can hardly take that item out — it is hard 
enough to keep them straight now. It is the power of 
God to salvation ; and it is that by which Paul said the 
Corinthians had been saved ; and if it saved them it 
might be necessary to save us. We will let that item 
remain surely. 

Shall we take out belief? Must not the gospel be be- 
lieved when preached ? It is only the power of God to 
the salvation of him who believes it. Jesus said, he 
that believeth not shall be damned. It occurs to us that 
this would be rather a dangerous place to use the ampu- 
tating knife. 



THE COMMISSION. 55 

Sliall we take away repentance? All say no. But 
why not? If we are justified by faith only, or if faith 
is the only condition of pardon what is the use of repent- 
ance, or where is any place for it ? "0 hut repentance 
comes before faith." Well, suppose we were to grant 
this ; if it is a condition coming after faith, without 
which all must perish, will it cease to be a condition if 
placed before faith ? Changing places with faith and 
repentance does not make either one cease to be a con- 
dition of pardon. Though placing the cart before the 
horse might put things in quite an awkward shape, yet 
cart and horse are both there all the same. So placing 
repentance before faith brings no relief to the doctrine of 
justification or salvation by faith alone. If it is by faith 
only or alone, then repentance has nothing to do with 
it, and hence it may be rubbed out of the commission. 
But Jesus had not learned the doctrine of justification 
by faith only when he put repentance into the commis- 
sion, nor has he learned it yet so far as heard from, so 
we will let repentance stay just where he placed it. 

But does the fact that repentance is mentioned in a 
few places before faith settle the order in which these 
conditions come in the plan of salvation ? Peter said : 
" The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew 
and hanged on a tree." Acts v : 30. Again : " And we 
are witnesses of all these things which he did both in 
the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem ; whom they slew 
and hanged on a tree." Acts x : 39. Did the Jews slay 
Jesus and then hang him on the tree of the cross ? Yes, 
if the order of mention is always the order of occur- 
rence. Once more : " If thou shalt confess with thy 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart 
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be 
saved." Rom. x : 9. Are persons to confess with the 



56 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

mouth before tliej believe with the heart ? The very 
next verse in the same connection reverses this order. 
'' For with the heart man belie veth unto righteousness ; 
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." 
Rom. X . 10. On the day of Pentecost the people heard 
Peter preach Jesus as the then crowned King, Lord and 
Christ. They believed and were cut to the heart by 
faith in Jesus. When they asked what they should do 
the first thing required of them was to repent. This ex- 
ample should forever settle the order in which faith and 
repentance come. But having discussed this subject 
elsewhere I only present a thought or two here, not pre- 
sented there. 

But now comes the trouble. There is baptism ; it 
must come out of the commission surely. Well, Jesus 
put it there ; who has a right to revise his work ? If 
I had made the commission I might have put a mourn- 
ers' bench right where Jesus put baptism. I am quite 
sure that I would have made a bungle of it in some 
way. Fortunately it was made by Him who had all 
power in heaven and on the earth, and our duty is to ac- 
cept it as He gave it. 

Shall we take out the formula ? [N'o, all use it and I 
suppose none want it taken out. If removed from the 
commission it is forever gone, for it can be found no- 
where else. 

Shall we take out salvation, or remission of sins as the 
blessing promised to those who would honor the Mas- 
ter ? Some might want to change the position it occu- 
pies, but I suppose none would like to have it taken out 
entirely. But it is just where Jesus placed it — who has 
a right to change it ? He did not say, he that believeth 
and is saved may or should be baptized; but He did 
say, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. 



THE COMMISSION. 57 

He promised salvation to him who would believe and be 
baptized; and surely the blessing promised cannot be 
reached before compliance with the conditions on which 
it is promised. Such language could not be misunder- 
stood concerning the ordinary affairs of every day bus- 
iness. 

Suppose I engage a laborer to plant me a crop of 
corn ; and cultivate it to maturity ; for which I agree to 
give him a specified horse. The proposition is accepted, 
the details are all understood and reduced to writing. 
The man goes to work and plants the crop, but does 
nothing more to it. The crop is choked out by weeds 
and is wholly worthless. But he demands of me the 
horse specified in the contract, as though he had done 
all the work agreed upon, when no one was to blame in 
any way for his failure but himself. Of course I refuse 
to deliver the horse, and he sues me. Is there a court 
on earth that would say he is entitled to the horse ? 
Surely not. Very well, he that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved. The man believes, has not been 
baptized — is he saved? Though perhaps many have 
been the opportunities offered, yet he allowed the lust 
of the flesh, and the deceitfulness of riches to choke out 
the word. His faith is dead, and wholly worthless. !N"ow 
where is the difference ? One is business — the other 
pertains to religion — the principle is precisely the same. 

But if we could still be in doubt as to the import of 
the commission as operations were to begin under it at 
Jerusalem, we have only to go there and see what the 
apostles, to whom it was given, did in carrying it out. 
What did they do in obedience to it ? 

The first requisition made of the apostles in the com- 
mission was to preach. They were to begin at Jerusa- 
lem and here they are. " Peter, standing up with the 



58 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

eleven, lifted up his voice, and said nnto them, Ye men 
of Judsea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, he this 
known unto you, and hearken to my words." Acts ii : 
14. Thus hegan the first discourse ever preached under 
the commission given by Christ to the apostles for the 
conversion of the world. 

They were required to preach to, or teach all nations, 
and there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jew^s, devout men 
from every nation under heaven, which gave favorable 
opportunity for the work to begin ; and it was extended 
as, in the providence of God, they had opportunity to 
extend it. 

The gospel was to be the subject matter of their 
preaching, and every prominent fact connected with the 
gospel was embraced in Peter's discourse on that occa- 
sion. 

The people were to believe the gospel, and they did 
believe what Peter preached, and as Jesus, the crowned 
King, Lord and Christ was the central theme of his 
discourse, when they believed what he preached they 
believed on Christ; and believing^ they were cut to the 
heart — mightily wrought upon and affected by the Holy 
Spirit, who. dictated the words spoken by him to them. 

The commission required rejpentance to be preached in 
the name of Jesus, so when the people were cut to the 
heart, and anxiously inquired what to do, the first thing 
commanded in the name of Jesus was that they should 
repent. 

But the commission required believing penitents to 
be baptized, hence Peter not only commanded these be- 
lievers to repent, but in the name of Jesus Christ, he 
told them to repent and be baptized, \ and he told them to 
do both for the remission of sins, the very thing which, in 



THE COMMISSION. 59 

connection witli repentance was to be preached in tlie 
name of Jesus. * 

Thus we see that every item of the commission was 
present in the events of Pentecost. This was indeed 
an inspired commentary on the commission, showing ivhat it 
meant by shoioing ichat insjnred men did in obeying it. 

One more thought and we close our examination of 
the commission for the present. In all God's dealings 
with man in every age of the world, when he promised 
a blessing to any person, or number of persons, on com- 
pliance with a specified number of conditions, the bless- 
ing could only be reached on compliance with all the 
conditions standing between the party and the blessing 
promised. When IN'aaman was commanded to wash 
himself seven times in Jordan in order to be cured of 
his leprosy, he did not reach the cure until he dipped 
the seventh time. When the Israelites were commanded 
to march around the city of Jericho once a day for six 
days, and seven times on the seventh day, the walls 
of the city were not thrown down until the 
completion of the seventh circuit on the seventh day. 
Other examples might be given, but these are sufficient 
to illustrate the principle. Xow, if the language of 
Jesus can .establish any thing, it is certain that he has 
placed faith^ repentance and baptism in the commission as 
conditions of salvation or the remission of sins. Can we 
reach the blessing promised until we comply with all the 
conditions f If we can, then this ever-present principle in 
God's dealings with man has been overcome, or set 
aside in some way. For what did Jesus put these con- 
ditions in the commission if they are not to be regarded 



■' For a critical examination of this subject see Gospel Plan of Sal- 
vation, pages 505 to 510 inclusive. 



60 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

in order to reticli the salvation, or remission of sins 
promised? If the blessing promised maybe obtained 
without compliance with all the conditions, ichy not icith- 
out compliance with any ? 

^ow, friendly sinner, is there any possibility of a mis- 
take in this matter ? We confess our inability to see a 
chance for mistake; but suppose we are wrong, and it 
should be true that we are pardoned the moment we 
believe, will God damn us for going on and obeying 
him in baptism ? We think not. Surely he would not 
condemn us for obeying him in baptism after command- 
ing it. Hence we are safe even on that theory. 

Again, we are told that whatever a man believes to 
be right is right to him. Well, if this be so, we cannot 
be wrong, for it will surely be conceded that we hon- 
estly believe wbat we teach ; and this being so, we will 
be saved in our honest belief if any are thus saved. 

But we occupy safe ground all along the line. Some 
tell us that the commission authorizes the baptism of 
infants. Suppose this is true; it is admitted on all 
hands that if we were not baptized in infancy it was no 
fault of our own, but simply the neglect of our parents; 
and that we ought to be baptized as adults if we were 
not as infants. Very well, then, when we are baptized 
as believers we are doing right ; and we will surely not 
be lost for doing right. 

Some think that sprinkling or pouring will do for 
baptism. Suppose this is true, the same persons will 
admit that immersion is valid baptism ; hence when we 
are immersed we are Scripturally baptized beyond the 
shadow of a doubt, and cannot be wrong. So we occu- 
py safe ground in any aspect of the case. Others way 
he right, yet may be wrong. We are right and cannot 
be wrong. 



THE COMMISSION. 61 

Then the question for your decision is, do you want 
to be saved ? If so, what hinders you from being 
saved ? God is willing to save you — are you willing to 
be saved ? yes, you are willing that God may save 
you if he will save you in 3^our own way. My dear 
friend, you have no right to dictate to God as to 
how he shall save you. You must accept salvation 
on his terms or be lost. And if you are not willing to 
be saved on any terms which ma}^ be pleasing to him, 
you are not in a fit frame of mind to be saved at all. 

But you say you are not good enough to obey God 
yet. How long will it take you to get to be good 
enough in serving the devil ? Will you ever make 
much improvement in that direction ? 

Well, but you intend to do better some day. But 
suppose you die before that some day comes, what then ? 
And if you should live a thousand years you could never 
repay God for what he has done for you. You owe all 
to him. 

Men act more consistently on every other subject 
than on the subject of their soul's salvation. They 
will move in the direction of their interests in other 
matters. Convince them that they will lose a few hun- 
dred dollars if they do not immediately secure it and they 
will move at once. But when their eternal destiny is at 
stake they seem perfectly indifferent and unconcerned. 

It is not necessary for a man to become a liar, a thief, 
or a murderer, in order to be lost. He can be lost with- 
out becoming that bad. Paul said : "How shall we es- 
cape if we neglect so great salvation." Neglect is the 
word. Did you ever think of the fact that neglect of duty 
will damn you forever ? Arise and come to Jesus now. 
^ow is all the time you can claim. To-morrow to you 
may never come. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE CONVERSION OF THE JAILER. 

"Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved, and thy house." Acts xvi: 30, 31. 

WE propose an examination of tlie jailer's con- 
version becanse it is supposed to teach the 
doctrine of salvation by faith only. As the jailer was 
told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he should 
be saved and nothing more is contained in the direct 
answer to the question asked by him, it is assumed that 
nothing else was necessary to his salvation but to believe. 

Before entering upon an examination of the real mer- 
its of this case of conversion, there are a few prelimi- 
nary considerations to which we invite attention for a 
few moments. 

When we ask a person, demanding baptism, if he be- 
lieves with all the heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of 
God, our religious neighbors tell us that belief is not 
faith ; yet when these same persons wish to preach a dis- 
course, setting forth the doctrine of justification by 
faith only, the answer of Paul to the jailer is a favorite 
text from which to preach it. Why use a command to 
believe^ to teach the necessity oi faith, if belief is not 
faith ? Surely there is a want of fitness of text and ser- 
mon in such efforts as these. It occurs to us that if be- 
lief is not faith, they should select a text having the 
icord faith in it at least. 

Again, if from the fact that belief is the only thing 
(62) 



THE CONVERSION OF THE JAILER. 63 

mentioned in the direct answer of Paul to the Jailer, we 
are authorized to conclude that nothing else is necessary ; 
then why may we not select other examples where 
neither faith nor belief is mentioned directly, in answer 
to substantially the same question, and conclude that 
faith is not necessary at all because it is not mentioned ? 
Is not one conclusion just as logical and Scriptural as 
the other ? But if we treat the Bible in this way we 
may soon have as many theories of conversion as there 
are cases of conversion recorded. 

One man may take this example, and construct him 
a theory of salvation on faith alone, because nothing 
but belief is mentioned in the direct answer. He will 
have neither repentance nor baptism in his theory ; for 
we must remember that there is as little said about re- 
pentanee as about baptism ; and hence they must both go 
out together. If baptism is to be rejected because not 
mentioned directly in the answer, then re2)entance must 
be rejected for the same reason. But we may be an- 
swered that repentance is implied. Implied indeed! 
Then why may not baptism be implied as well ? It we 
may imp>ly one why not the other ? If you ojDen that 
door you must take in both or neither. As neither is 
mentioned they must stand or fall together. 

When Saul said. Lord what wilt thou have me to do ? 
he was told to go into the city and there he should be 
told what he must do. !N"ot to be tedious in unnecessary 
details, Ananias was sent by the Lord to tell him ; and 
he told him to arise and be baptized and wash away his 
sins, calling on the name of the Lord. l!^othing was 
said about /azYA and just as little was said about repent- 
ance. Therefore the reasoning adopted in the jailer's 
case forces the conclusion that neither of them is neces- 
ary. Then on this example we may construct a theory 



64 GOSPEL SERxMONS 

of salvation on baptism alone. Is there not just the 
same authority for it that is claimed to build a theory 
of salvation by faith only on the jailer's case? 

But another man comes upon the arena, and he is not 
pleased with faith alone, nor with baptism alone — 
indeed he has no use for either ; and he begins turning 
the leaves of hi& E'ew Testament in search of an exam- 
ple by which he can exclude both. He turns to the 3rd 
chapter of Acts and reads the 19th verse : " Kepent ye, 
therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blot- 
ted out." Here it is. I^o faith, no baptism mentioned 
here, and he constructs him a theory of conversion on 
repentance alone. Has he not the same authority to do 
it that any one has to construct a theory of salvation on 
the jailer's case by faith alone because nothing else but 
belief is mentioned in the answer ? 

Still another man appears who is not pleased with 
faith alone, repentance alone, or baptism alone, and he 
looks up an example that suits his taste better. He opens 
at Acts ii : 37, 38. He finds that substantially the same 
is asked by the Pentecostians that was asked by the 
jailer : " Men and brethren what shall we do ? " It was an- 
swered by an inspired man who spake as the Spirit gave 
him utterance : " Repent and be baptized, every one of 
you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." 
Here there is nothing said about faith ; and the reason- 
ing applied to the jailer's case forces the conclusion that 
that which is not specifically mentioned is unnecessaiw, 
and he, therefore, builds him a theory on repentance and 
baptism without any faith at all. Has he not a right to 
come to such conclusion from the theory adopted in the 
jailer's case ? 

And so we might go on, multiplying theories to any 
extent desirable. Is it possible that God has no system 



THE CONVERSION OF THE JAILER. 65 

at all; but just pardons or saves one man in this way, 
another in that way, and still another in some other 
w^ay, as may chance to happen ? Surely this cannot he. 
If we look at the material universe, where God controls 
every thing by natural law, we find day and night, sum- 
mer and winter, seed time and harvest, have succeeded 
each other in regular order, without a single failure, 
from the dawn of creation until now. Planets roll in 
regular cycles around the sun, as they have ever done, 
since God's almighty hand hung them in space upon 
nothing save the law by which, from the beginning, he 
has held them in position subservient to his will. In all 
directions we see every thing subordinate to law, con- 
ceived in infinite wisdom; and no discordant note is 
heard, or want of harmony seen in au}^ department of 
his dominion. Can we conclude, then, that in the sal- 
vation of man, whom he so loved as to give the life of 
his Son to consummate it, there is no system, harmony, 
or order ; but every thing left in confusion, and subject 
to the mere happenings of chance. Surely such utter 
want of system, in a matter so important, is wholly un- 
like God ; and nothing of the kind ever emanated from 
him. The plan of salvation, understood as God gave 
it, is the grandest exhibition of harmony and order on 
which the mind of man was ever permitted to dwell ; 
and when we see and appreciate its iierfection these con- 
flicting theories will have passed into the darkness of 
eternal night. 

One other matter of general application demands at- 
tention before entering upon an examination of the 
jailer's conversion. 

Circumstances connected with different cases of con- 
version, and conditions on which conversion depends are 
not the same. Circumstances connected with cases of 
5 



66 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

conversion have differed, do differ, and will continue to 
differ, as long as man lives in a tenement "of clay ; but 
conditions of conversion, or salvation under the Christian 
dispensation, always have been, are now, and will con- 
tinue to be the same in all cases. We know nothing of 
exceptions- to this position. If exceptions there be, 
they are not connected with any case of conversion re- 
corded, and hence we can know nothing about them. 

It was a circumstance connected with the conversion 
of the Pentecostians that they had gone to Jerusalem, 
fifty days before, to attend the annual feast of the pass- 
over ; and were awaiting the feast of Pentecost ; and 
hence were dwelling there during the fifty days between 
those two festivals. Thus they were present, and heard 
Peter's preaching on that memorable occasion, by which 
they were converted. Must this circumstance attend 
every case of conversion ? If so no one could be con- 
verted until he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; and 
not then until the other events of the day were repeated. 

It was a circumstance connected with the conversion 
of Cornelius that he saw and talked with an angel, by 
whona he was told where to find a man who would tell 
him what to do to be saved. Must every one see and 
talk with an angel before he can be converted now? 
Such agencies are not necessary now as they were then. 
The 'New Testament was not then written, from which 
Cornelius -could learn his duty, as we can now. Why 
should we want an angel to tell us that which we may 
plainly read in the word of God? 

It was a circumstance connected with Saul's conversion 
that he saw the Lord, and talked with him in person. 
Another circumstance was that he saw a light above the 
brightness of the sun. It was still another circumstance 
that he was made physically blind, and had to have his 



THE CONVERSION OF THE JAILER. 67 

friends to lead him by the hand. Do these circumstances 
have to be reproduced in the conversion of any one to- 
day ? If so, we suppose tliere is not a man living who 
has been converted, or ever will be. 

It was a circumstance connected with the conversion 
of the jailer, that he was the keeper of that prison ; and 
as such, had charge of those holy men, of whom he 
learned what to do to be saved. It was another circum- 
stance that there was an earthquake there, the prison 
doors were opened, and the fetters of the prisoners were 
taken off. Must these circumstances be present in con- 
version to-day ? Thus we dispose of all the miracles 
connected with the conversions recorded. They were 
circumstances^ not conditions ; and were not the same in 
any two cases recorded. And to-day we cannot find 
any two cases of conversion the circumstances connected 
with which are the same throughout. We could easily 
demonstrate this by an examination of cases, but cannot 
spare space to do so. Any one can satisfy himself by 
an examination of the circumstances connected with such 
cases as may be personally known to him. If he will 
make the search he will soon be convinced that in no 
two cases are the circumstances precisely the same. 

We are now ready to look for the conditions upon 
which the jailer was saved ; and if we will allow the in- 
spired teachers that common sense, to say nothing of 
their inspiration, that other men exercise in the ordinary 
affairs of life, we will have no difficulty in harmonizing 
his conversion with all others recorded for our inspec- 
tion. 

It is twenty-one miles from Lewisburg, where I am 
now writing, to the town of Shelbyville. Suppose a 
man wishing to go from here to Shelbyville, and not 
knowing the distance, inquires of me, " how far to Shel- 



68 GOSPEL SERMOJ^S. 

byville ? " Of course I reply it is twenty-one miles. He 
starts on the road, and after traveling seven miles, he 
meets another man and makes the same inquiry of him: 
" How far to Shelby ville ? " Kow, will this man give 
him the same answer given him before starting ? No ; it 
would not be true if he were to so answer him ; and anv 
man governed by the plainest dictates of common sense 
would adapt his answer to the position of the traveler 
when he made the inquiry ; and the answer would be, 
" it is fourteen miles, sir."' He moves on another seven 
miles, and meets another man of whom he makes the 
same inquirj^ : " How far to Shelbyville ? " Will he re- 
ply as did either of those of whom he inquired before ? 
]S^o ; it is not twenty-one miles from where he now is, nor 
is it fourteen miles, but it is seven miles ; and the man ex- 
ercising reasonable common sense so answers him. Here 
are three different answers, given to the same question, 
about a very plain matter ; and though the answers were 
different they were all true ; and had the same answer 
been given every time it would have been false two out 
of the three times, because of the different position of the 
man making the inquiry. This is only an illustration, 
but it is a very plain one, and if we keep it in mind it 
may help us to understand the jailer's conversion, and 
not only his but others as well. 

E'ow what was the jailer's inquiry ? It was : " Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved ? " Tliis was a very import- 
ant question, and we would expect intelligent men (to 
say nothing of inspired men) to adapt their answer to 
the condition of the party at the time he asked it. 
Then what was his condition at that time ? He was a 
heathen jailer, and had these holy men in his keeping 
for casting a spirit of divination out of a damsel in the 
name of Jesus, of whom, as yet, he knew nothing. He 



THE CONVERSIOX OF THE JAILER. 69 

doubtless regarded Jesus as an impostor, and Lis follow- 
ers as disturbers of the peace, and worthy of the punish- 
ment they had received. Then surely we would expect 
just such an answer as was given : " Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Xot that he 
would be saved at the moment he believed on Him; but 
when he believed on him he would be ready to accept 
terms of salvation coming from him. It would not be 
reasonable to command him to do any thing in obedi- 
ence to him in whom he did not believe. When he be- 
believed in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of man, 
then, and not until then, would he be inclined to accept 
his teaching, and respect his authority. Then the plan 
of salvation might be taught him, with a reasonable 
prospect of compliance with it. This was just the order 
observed. After telling him to believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, they spake unto him the word of the Lord 
and to all that were in his house. In the word of the 
Lord spoken to him was included all the conditions of 
pardon. That the necessity of baptism was preached to 
him, in the word of the Lord, is evident from the fact 
that he took them the same hour of the night, and was 
baptized he and all his, straightway. Surely he did not 
so promptly attend to that about which nothing had 
been said, and of which he knew nothing ; and he could 
have known nothing about it until they preached the 
word of the Lord to him. Like the man in our illus- 
tration, before he started the jailer had the entire distance 
before him — he had to begin at the beginning ; and he 
was instructed accordingly. Thus we see that these 
inspired teachers adapted their instruction to the condi 
tion of the party desiring salvation, and all preachers 
should do the same thing now. 

But the same question, in substance, was asked by the 



70 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Pentecostians, and it was answered differently. • Here 
again the inspired teachers adapted their instructions to 
the condition of those wanting the information. They 
had beheved Jesus an impostor, and with wicked hands 
had crucified him. Peter corrected their mistake by as- 
suring them that God had raised him from the dead and 
had made him both Lord and Christ. AVhen they be- 
lieved on Christ as Peter preached him to them they 
were cut to the heart, and cried out, men and brethren, 
what shall we do ? ISTow would any reasonable man 
have given these the same answer given to the jailer? 
I suppose not. These are believers^ the jailer was not. 
Why should they be told to believe when they had al- 
ready believed ? Please read Peter's discourse to them, 
see what he had preached to them, what they believed, 
and the effect it had on tlieni ; and you will be able to 
see why they were not told to believe. To use our il- 
lustration again, the}^ had already traveled one-third of 
the distance, and needed only to go the remaining two- 
thirds. So they were not told to do that which they 
had done, but that which remained to be done : Repent 
and be be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the 
remission of sins. 

This is plain practical common sense, and better still, 
it was instruction given by one who spake as the Spirit 
gave him utterance. The words were borne by the 
Holy Spirit, fresh from the eternal throne, and put into 
his mouth as he used them, and were surely appro- 
priate. Do you know any -people who believe and preach 
that icay now ? Do you know any preacher who would 
answer such a question, coming from persons just in 
such condition, just in the same wa}" to-day? If an 
angel from heaven were to give a different answer it 
would surely be wrong. Then if pei'sons in such condi- 



THE CONVERSIOX OF THE JAILER. 71 

tioii cry to us, " what sliall we do ? " we will not tell 
them to kneel down that we and our brethren may 
pray for them, but we will tell them to repent and be- 
baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission 
of sins : and if they receive this instruction we will bap- 
tize them, feeling perfectly sure that we have followed 
the teaching of God — not the tradition of men. 

But we have, substantially, the same question asked 
on another occasion, and still a different answar is giv- 
en — why was this ? Come and see. 

When the Lord appeared to the persecuting Saul on 
his way to Damascus, and convinced him that he was 
not an impostor as he had believed him to be, he, like 
the others, was cut to the heart, and cried out, " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do?" The Lord having 
delegated the preaching of the gospel to human agency, 
did not answer Saul's question directly, but told him to 
go into the city and there he should be told what to do. 
He went into the city, and there continued praying in 
deepest agony for three days and nights. The 'New 
Testament was not written then, so that Saul could go 
to it and learn his duty as we can now ; hence the Lord 
sent a man to tell him w^hat to do in answer to his 
question, *' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " 
Here the whole doctrine of justification by faith alone 
breaks down. In this question is a clear and public ex- 
pression of Paul's faith in Christ, and a willingness to 
do any thing required of him, by him in whom he now 
believes ; and yet it is conceded, on all hands, that he 
did not yet know what to do that he might be pardoned, 
and hence was not pardoned until Ananias went to him 
and told him how to wash away his sins. Here were 
three days and nights between his faith and pardon^ beyond 
the possibility of a respectable quibble. Then pardon 



72 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

does not take place tlie moment a man believes. This 
is settled if a plain Scriptural example can settle any 
thing. 

But the Lord sent Ananias to tell him what to do. 
He said : " Why tarriest thou ? Arise and be baptized 
and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the 
Lord." Acts xxii : 16. 

Here again the answer is varied to suit the condition 
of the man wanting the information. He was not told 
to believe, as was the jailer, for he had believed. He was 
not told to repent, as were the Pentecostians, for he was 
as truly penitent as he could ever get to be. To use our 
illustration again, he had already traveled two-thirds of 
the distance and only one-third remained before him. 
It was not necessary that he should go back and start 
again ; but to go on from where he then was. So Saul 
was not told to do that which he had done ; but he was 
told to do that which remained to be diOWQ— arise and he 
baptized. When he did this he had complied with all 
the conditions required in the commission — he had be- 
lieved, repented and been baptized ; and in order to sal- 
vation, pardon or remission of sins, he needed nothing 
more. This instruction came by inspiration and can- 
not be wrong. Will you accept it ? Why not ? 

But do you know any modern preacher who would 
so instruct a man in his condition to-day ? ' Remember, 
he was down praying when Ananias went to him, why 
not tell him something like the following : "Pray on, 
Brother Saul ; you will get through after awhile if you 
persevere. You are on the right road now ; I have been 
along there, and that is the way I got through. A lit- 
tle more faith, believe in Jesus, trust in the Lord, etc., 
etc." Did you never hear anything like this ? But is 
this the way Saul was instructed by the man of God ? 



THE CONVERSION OF THE JAILER. 73 

E'ot a word like it. AYe respectfully suggest that Saul's 
condition was very much like that of modern mourners. 
He Avas a believer — so are they. If they did not helieve 
on Christ they would not leave their seats and go forward 
to seek salvation through Him. Suppose you ask an 
infidel to go to the mourner's bench to seek salvation 
through Christ in whom he does not believe — would he 
go, do you think ? ^o, indeed ; he would laugh at you. 
But Saul was penitent — so are they. See their faces 
all bathed in tears of bitterest grief on account of past 
sins and anxious to live a new life, and tell me if such 
are not penitent. Then why not give them the same 
instructions that w^ere given to Saul? "Arise and be 
baptized and wash away your sins." But are they ever 
so instructed ? If not, why not ? 

We think it likely that these three cases cover every 
conceivable condition in which sinners may be found 
to-day. They are believers, or they are in unbelief. 
If -they are in unbelief the instructions given to the 
jailer w^onld apply to them. He was in unbelief, and if 
they are as he was, they should be instructed as was 
he. 

If they have believed and have not repented, the 
instructions given to the Pentecostians would apply 
to them, " Repent and be baptized, every one of you, 
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins," 
would surely apply to such. If they have believed and 
relented ^hvit have not been baptized, then the instruc- 
tions given by Ananias to Saul w^ould apply to them. 
" Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins 
calling on the name of the Lord." Can you think of 
any other condition in which sinners may be found ? 
If not, then Ave have covered the whole ground with 
these three cases. You are in one of these three conditions 



74 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

: — will you apply the instructions to your own case and 
act upon it? Why not? 

In conclusion we propose to show that the same 
thing was preached to the jailer that Peter preached 
in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Paul said to 
the jailer : " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake 
unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were 
in his house." Acts xvi : 31, 32. Now please notice 
that the word of the Lord was spoken to the jailer, and 
if we can learn what was included in the word of the 
Lord, we may feel sure that we have found what was 
required of him. The prophets Isaiah and Micah both 
said : " Out of Zion shall go forth the law and the 
word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Is. ii : 3 ; Mic. iv : 
2. Here we see that the word of the Lord spoken to 
the jailer was to go forth from Jerusalem. The Lord 
said : " Repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached in his name among all nations beginning at 
Jerusalem." Luke xxiv : 47. Perhaps repentance and 
remission of sins that were to begin to be preached at 
Jerusalem constituted the word of the Lord that was to go 
forth from there. Peter said : " Repent and be baptized, 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re- 
naission of sins." Did this constitute the ivord of the 
Lord at Jerusalem, that the prophets sadd should go 
forth from there ? We suppose it dicl. Then as the 
word of the Lord was what was spoken to the jailer, it 
is certain that the same thing was preached to him that 
Peter preached in Jerusalem on Pentecost. N^or is this 
all — they understood and obeyed it in the same way at 
both places. On Pentecost they that gladly received his 
word were baptized, and the same day there were added 
unto them about three thousand souls. Yes, they that 



THE CONVERSIOX OF THE JAILER. 75 

gladly received what Peter preached were baptized the 
same day. What was the result at the Philippian jail ? He 
took them the same hour of the iright and washed their 
stripes and was baptized he and all his straightway. 
Thus we see that not only the same thing Avas preached 
at both places, but it was understood and obeyed in the 
same way at both places. 

As to whether or not the jailer w^as baptized in the 
house see Gospel Plan of Salvation, page 347. 

As to whether or not infants were baptized with the 
jailer, see Gospel Plan of Salvation, page 459. 

Thus we see that the jailer's conversion Avas in strict 
accord with the other cases of conversion recorded, and 
with the commission given by the Lord, as well. Every 
condition of the commission was complied with by him. 
He believed, repented, was baptized, and was saved. 
There is not a case of conversion recorded under the 
gospel of Christ where these conditions were not all 
present, either expressed or implied. He who has com- 
plied with all these conditions has the w^ords of Jesus 
pledged for his pardon. " He that belie veth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved." This was said by him who had 
all power in heaven and on the earth. Will you trust 
it ? Who has power to revise and improve upon it ? 



CHAPTER V. 



TYPES AND ANTITYPES, SHADOWS AND SUBSTANCES 

THE symbols, parables, allegories, and figures of the 
Bible were all based on the imagery furnished in 
the places, times, and occupations familiar to the princi- 
pal actors in the events recorded in this most wonderful 
Book. Printing was not known until about the middle 
of the fif teeth century — nearly fourteen hundred years 
after the last inspired sentence had been recorded ; 
hence the word tyye does not occur in our English Bi- 
ble at all. The Old Testament abounds in descriptions 
of persons, places, events, buildings, furniture and serv- 
ice connected with the patriarchal, and Jewish dispensa- 
tions which more or less fully adumbrated persons and 
things analagous in the Christian dispensation. 

In printing there is the metalic type, and the letter or 
character made by it, answering to it, or standing against 
it, hence comes our English word antitype. A Script- 
ure type, then, is something in one age or dispensation 
exhibiting, at least in general outline, some person or 
thing appearing in some future period ; and when it or 
they so appear, as typified, they or it may fitly be called 
the antitype. 

In studying these types the Bible student may group 
them into two classes — viz : Single and systematic. The 
single types are such as set out or point to some particu- 
lar feature in the person or ministry of Jesus Christ. Tlie 
systematic types are such as more or less fully exhibit 
(76) 



TYPES AND ANTITYPES, SHADOWS AND SUBSTANCES. 77 

the whole system of salvation offered the world through 
Jesus Christ. 

We do not propose an extensive examination of these 
single types; indeed they arfe so numerous that we can- 
not even mention them all; but we will mention enough 
of them to give an idea of what we mean by them. 

Adam, the first man, w^as a type of Christ. Paul 
says : " [N'evertheless death reigned from Adam to 
Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the 
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of 
him that was to come." E-om. v : 14. The w^ord figure 
is here used in the sense of our word type ; and by the 
word, or rather phrase, " him that was to come," is most 
certainly meant Jesus Christ. 

" And so it is written, the first man Adam was made 
a living soul ; the last Adam was made a quickening 
Spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, 
but that which is natural ; and afterward that which is 
spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy : The 
second man is the Lord from heaven." 1 Cor. xv : 45- 
47. Adam was the great head of the natural family of 
man. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, or Spirit- 
ual family on the earth. 

Moses was a type of Christ. " The law was given by 
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." 
John i : 17. Or as some render this verse, " The grace 
and the reality came by Jesus Christ." Moses was the 
law-giver to the Jews, Jesus Christ was the Law-giver 
in his kingdom. 

The law given by Moses was a type, or shadow of the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. " The law having a shadow of 
good things to come, and not the very image of the 
things." Heb. x : 1. 

Aaron was the high priest of the Jews under the law, 



78 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

and as such was a type of Christ, our High Priest under 
the gospel. Heb. ix : all. 

The paschal lamb that was slain on the night of the 
departure of the children of Israel from Egypt was a 
type of Christ, who is our passover. 1 Cor. 5-7. 

And without being further tedious we may say that 
every victim slain as a sin-otfering under the law of 
Moses was a type of Jesus Christ, who was oiFered to 
bear the sins of many. Heb. ix : 9-14 ; 23-28. 

The smitten rock that gave water to the famishing 
Israelites in the wilderness was a type of Christ, who was 
smitten for our ofienses. 1 Cor. x : 4. 

The right application of types and the interpretation 
of prophecies are fruitful fields of doubtful speculation 
without an insyired interpreter; but when an inspired 
apostle says, " This is that which was spoken by the 
prophet," then we feel that we have something solid be- 
neath us — that our feet are upon a rock. In our appli- 
cation of the types and shadows of the Old Testament 
we have endeavored to follow the light cast on our path- 
way by inspired interpreters. 

There are at least four systematic types in the Old 
Testament, each one symbolizing the plan of salvation 
revealed in the Xew Testament — viz : The salvation of 
^""oah and family, the deliverance of the Israelites from 
Egyptian bondage, the tabernacle of the wilderness, and 
the temple of Jerusalem. To the first one of these we 
propose directing attention for the present. 

THE SALVATION OF NOAH. 

*' Which sometimes were disobedient, when once the 
longsufifering of God waited in the days of !N'oah, while 
the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight 
souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto 



THE SALVATION OF NOAH. 79 

even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting 
away of the filth of the flesh, hut the answer of a good 
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ." 1 Peter iii : 20, 21. 

We have the words " like figure " from the Greek 
word anti-tupon, which is as nearly the exact synonym 
of our English word antitype as two words ever are in 
difierent languages; and there is no good reason why it 
should not he so rendered here. Then we would have 
" The antitype whereof baptism doth also now save us." 
That this is a correct translation of the passage we think 
no unprejudiced scholar will deny. Then we are not 
guessing at the fact that the salvation of ^oah was a 
type of our salvation, for the apostle Peter plainly 
says so. 

In what sense are we to regard baptism as saving us ? 
Surely there is no saving virtue or power in baptism to 
save us. God alone has the pardoning power. Then 
Peter must have meant that baptism was a condition on 
compliance with which God saved those to whom he 
wrote. 

But did Peter mean that baptism alone saved them, or 
that baptism was the only condition necessary to their 
pardon ? It was certainly the only thing mentioned in 
Peter's statement; and whenever we are said to be 
saved by faith, or justified by faith, or eternal life or re- 
mission of sins is said to depend on belief, and nothing 
else is mentioned, it is always assumed that nothing else 
is necessary but faith or belief. Then as baptism is the 
only thing mentioned by Peter, in this connection, by 
which we are saved why not assume that we are saved 
by baptism alone f There is not a word said here about 
faith, not a word about repentance. Suppose we con- 
clude, therefore, that they are not necessary ; would we 



80 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

not be adopting just the reasoning of those who claim 
to prove justiiieation by faith alone? 

But IS this correct reasoning ? AVe think not ; for 
when Jesus put faith or belief, as a condition of salva- 
tion, into the commission he put it there to stay, and 
Peter had no right to take it out, and he certainly did 
not attemjjt it. AVhen Jesus said, ^' He that believeth 
not shall be damned," he meant it ; and Peter did not 
intend to contradict it. So when Jesus put baptism, as 
a condition of salvation, into the commission he put it 
there to stay, too ; and Ave had better not attempt to 
take it out. When Peter said baptism saves us he 
meant such a baptism as Jesus authorized him to 
preach ; and that was a baptism preceded by a hearty 
belief of the gospel. ]N'o other baptism was ever 
preached or taught b}' Peter or any other inspired man. 
It was not at all necessary that every condition of sal- 
tion should be mentioned every time the subject of 
salvation was referred to. As well might we expect 
the multiplication table to be repeated, or printed on 
every page of an arithmetic where an example is found 
requiring its use. It would indeed be a queer book. 
When the conditions of salvation were given in the 
commission they are all presumed to be present in every 
case of conversion whether mentioned or not. Any 
other reasoning would indefinitely multiply theories at 
the expense, and utter destruction of all system. 

But were we to conclude that nothing but baptism 
was required because nothing else was mentioned in 
that connection, we would destroy all fitness between 
the type and antitype. Was ISToah saved by water with- 
out faith? Surely not. Paul says: " By faith ^N'oah, 
being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved 
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house ; 



THE SALVATION OF NOAH. 81 

by the which he condemned the world, and became 
heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Heb. xi : 7. 

Here we find that by faith Koah prepared the ark 
in which he was saved by water ; and as faith was in 
the type we must expect to find it in the antitype. 
Were a printer to set up the letters " G-o-d" to spell 
the woid God in his type, he would be quite surprised 
to find only the letter " G " in the antitype. So when 
Jesus put faith, repentance, and baptism in the commis- 
sion, as conditions of salvation, is it not a little strange 
to see justification hj faith only in the teaching of those 
who believe the Bible ? And would not the printer be 
even more surprised to find only the letter '^ d " in the 
impression made by his type ? Would he stand around 
and expect the other two letters to change places and 
come out " o g " after a few years ? This would be 
quite a transposition — " d-o-g." And yet is this not ex- 
actly what happens when those who say that the com- 
mission gives all the authority they have to baptize any 
one, and under it baptize a baby? They claim to bap- 
tize the babe, under the commission, in the formula it 
contains, and then reverse the order of faith and repent- 
ance and expect the child, when grown, to repent and 
believe. 

But the commission is not the type. This makes the 
matter all the worse. The printer's type may get jos- 
tled about, but after the impression is made — the word 
printed, to see the letters changing places, or some of 
them disappearing, is unaccountable indeed. E'ow, is 
this a perversion? Is it not true to real life in the 
teaching of modern times ? If it is not then we confess 
our inability to understand what we hear from the pul- 
pits, and read from the highest standard works on these 
subjects. We do not loish to misrepresent any one, and 
6 



82 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

have no interest in doing so. " But does not Paul say : 
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ? Rom. v:l. As 
there is nothing else mentioned, is not this equivalent 
to saying we are justified by faith only ? " 

We think not. That we are justified by faith, is 
most certainly true, but that we are justified by faith 
only is not true; for an inspired man has said: "Ye. 
see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by 
faith only." James ii : 24. 

Let us try this reasoning a little further. It is said : 
^' By faith I^oah, being warned of God of things not seen 
as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving 
of his liouse." Heb. xi : 7. ]N"ow here it is said that by 
faith !N'oah prepared an ark, and there is nothing said 
of any thing else by which he did it, therefore according 
to the reasoning on justification nothing else was used 
but faith in building the ark. Can this be true ? 

God said to E'oah : " make thee an ark of gopher 
wood ; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt 
pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the 
fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the 
ark shall he three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty 
cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window 
shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou 
finish it above ; and the door of the ark shalt thou set 
in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories 
shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a 
flood ot waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, 
wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven ; and 
every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with 
thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come 
into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy 
sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all 



THE SALVATION OF NOAH. 5o 

flesh, two of every soi^t shalt thou hring into the ark, to 
keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and fe- 
male. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their 
kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, 
two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them 
alive. And take thou unto thee af all food that is eaten, 
and thou shalt gather it to thee ; and it shall be for food 
for thee, and for them. Thus did N'oah, according to 
all that God commanded him, so did he." Gen. 
vi: 14-22. 

Here we find that God made a revelation to l^^oah 
and 'Eosih believed it — was he saved when he believed 
God ? God revealed to him his purpose to destroy the 
wicked, and how he would do it. He told him how to 
build an ark ; of what kind of wood he should make it ; 
how long, wide, and high it should be ; and how many 
stories should be in it, and where to put the door and 
window; and that he should pitch it within and with- 
out with pitch ; and what, and who he should take into 
it with him; and how to provide food on which to sub- 
sist while the waters were upon the earth. All this 
God reavealed, and [N'oah believed it ; but did believing 
only, accomplish the ivorkf You will say such a question 
appears foolish ; why so ? It is said by faith Noah pre- 
pared an ark to the saving of his house, and nothing 
else is mentioned ; therefore nothing else was used, or 
employed but faith. 0, but this was a temporal salva- 
tion ! True enough, indeed ; but Peter says it was a 
type of our salvation by baptism ; and the religious world 
with one voice agrees that it is a type of our salvation ; 
and this being so, there must be a fitness of tyjpe and 
antitype. But let us have no dodging the issue. When 
it is said we are justified by faith, and nothing else is 
mentioned, that means by faith only ; so when it is said 



84 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

hy faith ^oab built the ark and notliing else is mentioned, 
it must be admitted that by faith only he built the ark, 
or the reasoning on the subject of justilication hy faith 
o;?iy breaks down. The record says : " Thus did Xoah ; 
according to all that God commanded him, so did he." 
This is the way Noah built an ark by faith — he beheved 
what God said to him, and he perfected his faith by 
doing what God commanded him to do. Had he trusted 
to faith alone he would have been drowned with the 
wicked. But he believed and obeyed God and was 
saved. He had as much faith before he built the ark 
as he had after it was done; indeed he had as much 
faith as any man can have to-day — faith to do all God 
commanded him; no man can have more; all must have 
as much. With all his faith he was saved in the ark hy 
water, hence he was not saved when first he believed,, 
but saved when he obeyed God. This is plain enough. 

Now are we prepared to look at the antitype ? Peter 
says baptism, the antitype of Noah's salvation in the ark 
by water, now saves us. We have seen that baptism ia 
not the power that saves us, but it is a condition, on com- 
pliance with which, God saves us. We have seen that 
baptism alone, if there could be such a thing, saves no- 
one. We have seen that baptism, that is not preceded 
by a hearty faith in Christ would be worth no more to 
a man than it would be worth to an infant', and we have 
seen that it is worth nothing to either. What, then, is 
the salvati07i to which Peter alludes as secured by baptism ? 

It is not salvation from persecution, insult, or personal 
injury, for the baptized man is just as subject to these 
as the unbaptized. It is not salvation from pain, sick- 
ness, or death, for these are the common lot of all men, 
whether baptized or not. It did not refer to final sal- 
vation in heaven, for Peter said, " baptism doth also 



THE SALVATION OF NOAH. 85 

This clearly shows that it was a present 
salvation to which he referred. Then we repeat, to 
what salvation did Peter refer? 

Peter was one of the apostles to whom Jesus gave the 
commission, saying : " He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved." Then when Peter said baptism doth 
also now save us, he certainly meant the same salvation 
to which Jesus referred in the commission. Then to 
what salvation did Jesus refer in the commission ? 
Luke records the same commission, saying : " Thus it is 
written, and thus it behooved Christ to suifer and to 
rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance 
and remission of sins should be preached in his name 
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." What 
Mark calls salvation Luke calls remission of si^is. When 
Peter first preached, under this commission, in Jerusa- 
lem on the day of Pentecost, he told believers to repent 
and be baptized in the n^me of Jesus Christ for the re- 
mission of sins. Here Peter gives remission of sins as 
the object for which persons were to be baptized, and 
hence remission of sins was the salvation to which Peter 
referred when he said, "baptism doth also now save 
us." 

But Peter puts in parenthesis, ("not the putting away 
of the filth of the fiesh, but the answer of a good con- 
sbience toward God ; ") and we are told that flth of the 
flesh here means sin, and hence this was intended to for- 
bid the idea that baptism is for the remission of sins. 
It occurs to us that this is a very elastic construction of 
the words filth of the flesh Suppose you wished to say 
that baptism was not to wash dirt from the body, could 
you think of a better way of expressing it than to say, 
"it is not the putting away of the filth of the fiesh ? " 
The passage means exactly what it says. Baptism being 



86 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

an entire submersion of the body, like bathings for cleans- 
ing filth from the body, the apostle thought it necessary to 
guard his readers against the supposition that it was for 
any such purpose. But had baptism been only drop- 
ping a few drops of water on the head it is likely the 
apostle would hardly have found it necessary to guard 
his readers against supposing it was for putting away 
the filth of the flesh. Such caution would hardly have 
been necessary. 

'-'' But baptism is the answer of a good conscience, and 
the conscience must be good before baptism, or baptism 
could not be the answer of a good conscience." This is 
certainly true. The conscience must be good before 
baptism, or baptism will do the party no good. A good 
conscience just means that the party is honest in what he 
is doing; and if he is not honest, he is a hypocrite^ and 
his baptism would be worth nothing. Baptism must be 
the response of a good conscience ; but a good conscience 
by no means implies that he wdio has it is a pardoned 
man. Paul lived in all good conscience when he was 
killing Christians. Long after his conversion he said 
he had lived in all good conscience up to that day ; and 
verily thought he ought to do many things contrary to 
the name of Jesus which things he did ; but his good 
conscience did not prove him a Christian, or a pardoned 
man. He says he obtained forgiveness because he did 
it in ignorance and unbelief. The conscience is the re- 
sult of faith, and faith is the result of testimony. If the 
testimony is correct the faith may be correct, and if the 
faith is correct the conscience will be correct. But if a 
man's teaching is wrong his faith will be wrong, and he 
may have a good conscience in doing very had things, he- 
cause he helieves them right. The conscience of one man 
will approve that which another man's conscience con- 



THE SALYATIOX OF NOAH. 87 

demns, simply "because of different faith produced by dif- 
ferent teaching. For example, one man's conscience 
will approve of what he calls the baptism of his chil- 
dren, while another's conscience w^ould rebuke him 
sharply for doing the same thing ; and both are honest, 
and living up to the conscientious discharge of duty as 
they understand it. A man should never violate his 
conscience, for were he to do so, he would do what 
he conscientiously believed to be w^rong, and if he 
were to do right believing it wrong, he would be dis- 
honest in doing it, and such service w^ould not be obedi- 
ence from the heart. There is only one thing safe, and 
that is to study the word of God, and be sure that our 
consciences are moulded by its teaching. If we prayer- 
fully read and study the word of God, and use all the 
means and opportunities we have of coming to a knowl- 
edge of the truth, we will not be likely to go wrong — at 
least not very far wrong ; and I cannot resist the con- 
viction that such persons will get right, even though they 
start wrong. But w^e must not forget that a good con- 
science only proves a man to be honest. That is all. 

Then the idea that baptism is the answer of a good 
conscience only means that it is the obedience of an 
honest man. From my very soul have I been sickened 
at the futile efforts of good men to sw^itch around and 
evade the grand truths that sparkle on the very surface 
of this passage. 

When Peter says baptism is not the putting away of 
the filth of the flesh it is true, literally true. There is no 
use running off into ceremonial pollution, or anything of 
the kind. It just means that baptism was not for the 
purpose of removing filth from the body. That is what 
it says, and that is what it means — -just that, exactly 
that. And we have seen the best kind of reason why 



88 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

this parenthetical chiuse was put in — to guard against a 
very natural mistake. Now do let the apostle's lan- 
guage mean what it implies. He meant what he said. 

Again, when Peter says baptism is the answer of a 
good conscience, that is what he meant — -jast that, ex- 
actly that. It is plain and unambiguous, why not let 
it alone ? He simply meant that it must be obedience 
from the heart of an honest man, for if not honest he is a 
hypocrite, and such a man could not be Scripturally bap- 
tized at all. 

What is the use of all this talk about seeking of a 
good conscience ? You are digging tunnels, my broth- 
er, that you may find treasures buried deep below, when 
they sparkle in the sunlight of Truth on the very sur- 
face; unseen, because you are hunting for something 
hidden and mysterious. It is right as it is — exactly 
right. The truth plain and simple. Will you receive 
it? 

When Peter said baptism doth also now save us, he 
told the truth, or he told a falsehood. The statement 
is plain and unambiguous, and it is true, or it is not 
true. If this is not true, then nothing that he ever said 
or wrote is worthy of credit. A witness convicted of 
false testimony in one thing is unworthy of credit in 
any thing. This is true, or Peter's testimony must be 
set aside from beginning to end. 

There is no evading this conclusion. Peter stands be- 
fore us as a witness unimpeached, and his testimony 
must be accepted as true ; hence baptism doth also now 
save us, for he said so. And if it saves us, it must save 
us from something ; and if it does not save us from sin, 
from what does it save us ? He does not say it symboli- 
cally saves us ; or that it symbolizes a salvation previ- 
ously secured by something else ; but he says it saves us. 



THE SALVATION OF NOAH. 89 

^o one loyal to the will of the Master ever conjures up 
something to protect theories from the plain, obvious 
meaning of the word of God. He is ever ready to 
mould his theory by the Word, in place ol warping the 
Word to lit his theory. 

We repeat, what by this time must be quite apparent, 
that baptism is a condition^ on compliance with which 
God saves us from the punishment due us in consequence 
of violating his law. If this is not true, then let him who 
can, tell us from what baptism does save us. It saves 
us from something — what is it ? 

'•' But ^N'oah was a good man before he was saved in 
the ark by water, therefore we must be good — pardoned 
before we are baptized." Certainly ]N"oah was a good 
man when he first appears in Bible history ; hut if this 
fact proves that we must be pardoned before we 
are baptized, it proves that we must be pardoned be- 
fore we have faith, for he was just as good before he 
ever heard of the flood, or the ark ; or had any faith in 
God's promise to save him, as he was when he landed 
upon Mount Ararat. Then if your reasoning be cor- 
rect, and your objection to baptism be well -taken, it is 
worth just as much against faith as against baptism. 
You brush them both out with the same broom. Are 
you prepared for this ? But your objection goes be- 
hind the beginning of the type to find fitness in the an- 
titype. The type was a temporal salvation, and begins 
ivith that salvation. As to how, or when N"oah became 
good we know nothing ; and it has nothing to do with 
the type, or with the subject of our investigation. We 
must not go behind this or any other type to find fitness in 
the antitype ; if we do we will destroy all types. We 
must always begin our application with the beginning 
of the type — not before it. 



90 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

[Row, my dear friends, are we sufficiently free from 
prejudice to allow us to accept the lesson taught in the 
type ? We have no right to debate the terms of our 
salvation with God. As unworthy and helpless sinners 
we should gladly, humbly, and thankfully accept salva- 
tion on any terms upon which he is pleased to offer it 
to us. We have no worth or merit in ourselves to com- 
mend us to his favor. When we see ourselves as we 
are, we feel like covering our faces with a mantle of 
shame, and, like the lepers of old, crying unclean ! un- 
clean ! ! unclean ! ! ! It is only through the grace and 
mercy of God that one of Adam's race can ever hope 
for salvation. The blood of Jesus is our only plea. 

*' Sinner, hear the invitation 
Sent in mercy from above ; 
Come, receive this great salvation, 
Purchased by redeeming love. 
Jesus calls in sweet compassion, 
Come, you wearj^ souls, to me ; 
Sinner, heed the invitation ; 
Rise forthwith, he calleth thee," 



CHAPTER VI. 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE. 

AFTER the destruction of the wicked and the sal- 
vation of IsToah and his family, the earth was 
again populated by their descendants. In view of the 
fact that an event so important as the flood'^was, most 
certainly, handed down, through tradition, from father 
to son through the ages following it, we would suppose 
that the sad fate of the wicked antediluvians would 
have been a lesson of warning to succeeding generations 
sufficient to have kept them sensible of their dependence 
upon God, and prevent them from rebellion against him 
for all time. But the lessons of experience are soon 
forgotten; so when the people became numerous and 
seemingly prosperous, they again became wicked, forgot 
God, and went into idolatry. They had learned the 
importance of worship, by tradition and observation, 
and having forgotten God, they made gods of their 
own, and worshiped them; as though the true God had 
never been. 

After IToah came out of the ark God said : " I will 
establish my covenant with you ; neither shall all flesh 
be cut off any more by the waters of a flood ; neither 
shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth." 
Gen. ix: 11. 

Having thus entered into covenant with ISToah that 
he would not again destroy the wicked by a flood, he 
determined to abandon them until they made the exper- 

(91) 



92 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

iment of living witliout liim — in tlie worsnip of gods 
of tlieir own make. Finding one righteous man in Ur 
of the Chaldees, he determined to separate him from the 
idolaters by whom he was surrounded ; and make him 
a great nation, which should be a nation devoted to 
Him. We suppose His motive for removing Abram 
from the land of his nativity was to prevent him and 
the nation he proposed leaking of him from being cor- 
rupted by idolatry. Be this as it may, "the Lord had 
said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from 
thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee ; 
and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless 
thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a 
blessing." Gen. xii ; 1, 2. 

Accordingly Abram moved from Ur to Haran, and 
there remained until Terah, his father, was dead. After 
Terah's death he " took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his 
brother's son, and all their substance that they had gath- 
ered ; and the souls that they had gotten in Haran ; and 
they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into 
the land of Canaan they came." Gen. xii: 5. 

Abram was seventy-iive years old when he left Haran ; 
he was eighty-six years old when Ishmael, his son by 
Hagar, was born; he was ninety-nine years old when 
the covenant of circumcision was instituted, and he and 
Ishmael were circumcised ; and he was one hundred 
years old when Isaac, the child of promise, was born to 
him of Sarah when she was ninety years old. To Isaac 
were born Jacob and Esau ; to Jacob were born twelve 
sons, who became the heads of the twelve tribes of 
Israel. 

The sale of Joseph by his brothers, his prosperity in 
Egypt, his appointment as governor, the famine in the 
land of Canaan, Joseph's introduction to his brothers, 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BO>'DAGE. 93 

and the removal of Jacob and seventy-five souls down 
into Egypt are matters with which all Bible readers are 
familiar. These seventy-five persons were the children 
of Israel, Hebrews, or Jewish nation at that time. 

"We have not time to mention the events that made 
Joseph governor of Egypt. Sufficient it is to say that 
his influence with the king secured a favorable recep- 
tion of his father, brothers, and their families; and 
their settlement. in the land of Goshen, one of the rich- 
est portions of the land of Egypt. 

While the then reigning Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 
lived the Hebrews were blessed with peace, rapid in- 
crease, and prosperity ; but when another king arose 
who knew not Joseph, the Hebrews were made slaves 
to the Egyptians, by whom they were most grievously 
oppressed; and God heard their groanings and deter- 
mined to deliver them. In this deliverance from slav- 
ery or bondage in Egypt our kind Father in heaven 
gave us a beautiful type of the delivery of the sinner 
from the guilt, slavery or bondage ot sin, by the gospel. 
This typical salvation and its antitype is the subject of 
our lesson for the present. 

Please remember that the type was laid in the delivery 
of the Isrcelites from bondage, and we cannot go behind 
that delivery for a fitness of things in the antitype. If we 
keep this well in mind it will greatly aid us in under- 
standing the lesson taught in this most beautiful type. 
That the deliverance of the children of Israel from 
Egyptian bondage was a type of our deliverance from 
the guilt and bondage of sin under the gospel, is admit- 
ted by all theologians of note every where ; but we will 
hear what Paul says about it : 

" Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be 



94 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, 
and all passed through the sea ; And were all baptized 
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea ; And did all eat 
the same spiritual meat ; And did all drink the same 
spiritual drink : for they drank of that spiritual Eock 
that followed them : and that Rock was Christ. But 
with many of them. Grod was not well pleased : for they 
were overthrown in the wilderness. l!^ow these things 
were our exanaples, to the intent that we should not lust 
after evil things, as they also lusted. l!^either be ye 
idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written. The 
people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 
IsTeither let us commit fornication, as some of them com- 
mitted, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 
]^either let us tempt Christ, as some of them also 
tempted, and were destroyed of serpents, ^'either mur- 
mur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were de- 
stroyed of the destroyer. !N'ow all these things hap- 
pened unto them for ensamples : and they are written 
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world 
are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand- 
eth take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. x : 1-12. 

The argument of the apostle here is, that notwith- 
standing the baptism of the Isrselites unto Moses, as 
their deliverer, in the cloud and in the sea, and their de- 
liverance from bondage at the time of that baptism, yet 
they acted wickedly afterward and were lost ; and these 
things were examples, that after our baptism and deliv- 
erance we are liable to be lost as they were, if we act 
wickedly as they did. This is the thought beyond the 
possibility of a doubt. Then we see that their deliver- 
ance through Moses was a part of the lesson left to us, 
and if we would understand the entire lesson we must 
examine the history of Moses, and trace his connection 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE. 95 

with the deliverance effected through him, as a type of 
our deliverance from sin. 

" And the children of Israel were faithful, and in- 
creased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceed- 
ing mighty ; and the land was filled with them. lN"ow 
there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not 
Joseph ; and he said unto his people. Behold, the people 
of the children of Israel are mor eand mightier than we ; 
come on, let us deal wisely with them ; lest they multi- 
ply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out 
any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight 
against us, and so get them up out of the land. There- 
fore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them 
with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treas- 
ure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they 
afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew. And 
they were grieved because of the children of Israel ; and 
the Egyptians made the children of Isrsel to serve with 
rigour ; and they made their lives bitter with hard 
bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of 
service in the field ; all their service wherein they made 
them serve, was with rigour." Ex* i : 7-14. 

^Notwithstanding all his efforts the king saw that the 
children of Israel increased, and he issued a decree that 
all male children born of Jewish mothers should be put 
to death as soon as born. But this decree was not car- 
ried out ; so he charged all his people, saying : " Every 
son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every 
daughter ye shall save alive." Ex. i : 22. 

Pending this decree Moses was born. He was the 
son of Amram,by Jochebed, his wife, who was his aunt, 
or his father's sister. (See Ex. vi : 20.) 

" When the mother of Moses saw that he was a goodly 
child, she hid him three months. And when she could 



96 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bul- 
rushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and 
put the child therein ; and she laid it in the flags by 
the river's brink. And his sister stood afar ofi, to wit 
what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pha- 
raoh came down to wash herself at the river ; and her 
maidens walked along by the river's side; and when 
she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to 
fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the 
child : and, behold, the babe wept. And she had com- 
passion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' 
children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, 
Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, 
that she may nurse the child for thee ? And Pharaoh's 
daughter said to her. Go. And the maid went and 
called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter 
said unto her. Take this child away, and nurse it for 
me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman 
took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and 
she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he be- 
came her son." Ex. ii : 2-10. 

Thus Moses was preserved from death by the King's 
decree, which he had issued in fear for the safety of 
his throne. When Moses was forty years old he went 
to visit his brethren, and when he found an Egyptian 
smiting one of them he slew him "and hid him in the 
sand. The next day he found two of his brethren striv- 
ing together ; and he said to him who did the wrong, 
"Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow ? And he said. Who 
made thee a prince and a judge over us ? intendest thou 
to kill me as thou killedst the Egyptian ? And Moses 
feared, and said. Surely the thing is known, l^ow when 
Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses; but 
Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE 97 

land of Midian. Ex. ii : 11-15. Here he married Zip- 
porab, the daughter of Jethro, and remained with his 
father-in-law, the priest of Midian, forty years. " And 
it came to pass in process of time, that the king of 
Egypt died : and the children of Israel sighed by reason 
of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came unto 
God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their 
groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abra- 
ham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked 
upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto 
them." Ex. ii : 23-25. 

When Moses led his father-in-law's flock to the 
mountain of God, even to Horeb, >' The angel of the 
Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the 
midst of a bush ; and he looked, and behold, the bush 
burned with fire and the bush was not consumed. And 
Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great 
sight, why the bush is not burnt. ^ ^ * And the 
Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people 
which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason 
of their taskmasters ; for I know their sorrows ; and I 
am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the 
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land into 
a good land. * * ^ic Come now, therefore, and I 
will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou may est bring 
forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." 
Ex. iii : 2-10. 

And Moses answered and said. But, behold, they will 
not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice : for they will 
say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. And the 
Lord said unto Moses, What is that in thine hand? 
And he said, A rod. And he said. Cast it on the ground. 
And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent ; 
and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto 
7 



98 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Moses, Put forth tlij hand, and take it by the tail. And 
he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a 
rod in his hand : * * * And the Lord said further- 
more unto him. Put now thine hand into thy bosom. 
And he put his hand into his bosom : and when he took 
it out, behold, his hand loas leprous as snow. And he 
said. Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he 
put his hand into his bosom again ; and plucked it out 
of his bosomi, and, behold, it was turned again as his 
other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not 
believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first 
sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also 
these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that 
thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it 
upon the dry land : and the water which thou takest 
out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.'' 
Ex. IV ; 1-9. 

Thus God revealed to Moses his purpose of delivering 
the children of Israel by him ; and he enabled him to 
confirm the fact that Grod had sent him, by the perform- 
ance of such miracles as unaided human power could 
not perform, that the people to whom he sent him 
might believe. 

And I may here state, that in no age of the world, 
from the creation of Adam until now, did God ever di- 
rectly call and send a man on any mission, that he did 
not enable him to do something to confirm his mission, 
and induce faith in those to whom he was sent that un- 
aided human power could not perform. To this I know 
not an exception. I might amplify and apply this 
thought at great length ; but it is said a hint to the 
wise is sufficient. Acting upon this maxim we must 
leave every one to apply it for himself. 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE, 99 

But poor, frail humanity is always seeking excuses 
from the discharge of duty, and Moses was not an ex- 
ception. "And Moses said unto the Lord, my Lord, 
I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou 
hast spoken unto thy servant : hut I am slow of speech, 
and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, 
Who hath made man's mouth ? or who maketh the 
dumh, or deaf, or the seeing, or the hlind? have not I 
the Lord ? ^ow therefore go, and I will he with thy 
mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he 
said, my Lord, send, I pray thee, hy the hand of him 
whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the Lord was 
kindled against Moses, and he said. Is not Aaron the 
Levite thy hrother ? I know that he can speak well. 
And also, hehold, he cometh forth to meet thee : and 
when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And 
thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth : 
and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and 
will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy 
spokesman unto the people : and he shall be, even he 
shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be 
to him instead of God." Ex. iv : 10-16. 

" And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together 
all the elders of the children of Israel : And Aaron 
spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto 
Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 
And the people believed : and when they heard that the 
Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had 
looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their 
heads and worshiped." Ex. iv : 29-31. 

Please notice especially that here is an account of the 
preaching, or presentation of the purpose of God to de- 
liver the children of Israel, and its confirmation by the 
miracles done in the sight of the people, and the people 



100 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

" believed." Here is their faith — are they delivered 
yet? ]^o, this is the first they had heard of God's pur- 
pose to deliver them. Don't forget this. 

We need not speak of the ten plagnes that God, by 
the hand of Moses brought upon Pharaoh and the Egyp- 
tians to make Pharaoh consent to the departure of the 
children of Israel ; it is sufficient to say that they 
turned their backs upon their enemies, and under the 
lead of Moses " they took their journey from Succoth, 
and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. 
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a 
cloud, to lead them the way ; and by night in a pillar 
of fire, to give them light ; to go by day and night : 
He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor 
the pillar of fire by night, /rom before the people." Ex. 
xiii: 20-22. 

E^ow, they have believed, turned away from serving 
the Egyptians, and have started for Canaan under the 
lead of Moses, and are in camp at Etham. Are they 
delivered or saved yet ? 'No, they are still in the land 
of Egypt, and liable to be captured and taken back at 
any moment. 

*^ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto 
the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before 
Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against 
Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea." 
Ex. xiv : 1, 2. Now, they are in camp by the sea — are 
they safe yet ? " And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the 
children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the 
Egyptians marched after them ; and they were sore 
afraid : and the children of Israel cried out unto the 
Lord. And they said unto Moses, Because there ivere no 
graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the 
wilderness ? wherefore hast thou dealt with us, to carry 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE. 101 

US forth out of Egypt ? Is not this the word that we 
did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we 
may serve the Egyptians ? For it had been better for us 
to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the 
wilderness." Ex. xiv : 10-12. This shows that they 
did not feel very safe, to say the least of it. " And 
Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and 
see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to 
you to-day : for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to- 
day, ye shall see them again no more for ever." v. 13. 
See the salvation of the Lord which he will show to you 
to-day — not did show you when you believed. 

•'And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; 
and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east 
wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the 
waters were divided. And the children of Israel went 
into the midst of the sea on dry ground ; and the waters 
ivere a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their 
left." vs. 21, 22. 

The Egyptians pursued after them, " And Moses 
stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea re- 
turned to his strength when the morning appeared; 
and the Egyptians fled against it ; and the Lord over- 
threw the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the 
waters returned and covered the chariots, and the 
horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into 
the sea after them ; there remained not so much as one 
of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry 
laiid in the midst of the sea ; and the waters were a wall 
unto them on. their right hand, and on their left. Thus 
the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand o± the 
Egyptians ; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the 
sea shore." vs. 27-30. Thus the Lord saved Israel 
that day. What day ? The day they believed, when 



102 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

they were back in Egypt ? No, but the day they were 
baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. There 
is where their enemies were drowned that they saw 
them no more ; and they sung their song of rejoicing 
on the opposite shore from where they went in. Now 
they are delivered from slavery and bondage in Egypt, 
but not before. This surely is plain enough. 

Though saved from their enemies, and from slavery 
and bondage in Egypt, they are not in Canaan yet. This 
is their objective point. This is their inheritance to 
which they have started — will they ever get there ? 
This depends entirely upon their fidelity to God. Cer- 
tain it is they have started right, and never could have 
reached Canaan by remaining in Egypt. If they are 
faithful to God he will lead them safely home. 

But their fidelity must be tested, and God put them 
on a trial or probationary state, and they proved un- 
grateful and rebellious. So their probation was pro- 
tracted until of the six hundred thousand men of war 
who crossed the Hed sea only Caleb and Joshua were 
faithful. Under the lead of Joshua, ^fter the death of 
Moses, those who were faithful crossed over Jordan and 
entered the land of Canaan, the home to which they all 
started when they left the land of Egypt. 

The deliverance of the children of Israel is now sufii- 
ciently before us to enable us to see, with great clear- 
ness, its typical import ; and it only remains for us to 
recapitulate its typical features, and apply them to their 
corresponding features of the antitype, in order to 
fully bring out the lesson contained in it. Before be- 
ginning our application we wish to call attention to cer- 
tain facts upon which all religious teachers are agreed. 

Eirst, it is agreed that all men who would be saved 
must believe in Christ. Faith in Christ is indispensa- 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE. 103 

ble to acceptance with God. Second, it is agreed, on all 
hands, that sinners must repent or perish. Third, it is 
agreed that believing penitents should be baptized. 
Where then is the real ground of diflerence ? It is as to 
the point in the process where pardon takes place. The large 
majority believe that pardon takes place at the moment 
of belief, while we think it takes place at the time of 
baptism, the last condition standing between the sinner 
and pardon. We think all will agree that this is a cor- 
rect statement of the real controversy ; and we wish 
this thought kept in mind in the application of this 
type ; that we may see exactly where pardon or deliver- 
ance takes place. 

(1) The children of Israel became slaves in Egypt by 
their own wickedness — men become servants of sin by 
indulgence in sin. " Know ye not, that to whom ye 
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are 
to whom ye obey : whether of sin unto death, or of obe- 
dience unto righteousness ? " Rom. vi : 16. 

(2) God heard the groanings of his people in. Egypt 
and provided for their deliverance. God so loved the 
world that he gave his Son to die to save them. 

(3) Moses was the deliverer of the children of Israel 
— Jesus is our deliverer, whose blood cleanseth from all 
sin. 

(4) Pharaoh feared for the safety of his throne on ac- 
count of the rapid increase of the children of Israel, and 
ordered all male children born of Hebrew mothers to be 
put to death — after Jesus was born " King of the Jews," 
Herod fearing for the safety of his throne, " sent forth 
and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and 
in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under." 
Matt, ii : 16. 

(5) God preserved' Moses from death by Pharaoh's 



104 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

decree — God sent Joseph with the infant Jesus into 
Egypt, there to remain until Herod was dead, and thus 
saved him from death by Herod's decree. 

(6) Moses was enabled to perform miracles in confir- 
mation of his mission, that the people might believe in 
him as sent of God — " Many other signs truly did Jesus 
in the presence of his disciples which are not written in 
this book : but these are written that ye might believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that be- 
lieving ye might have life through his name." John 
XX : 30, 31. 

(7) Moses, through Aaron, made known to the Israel- 
ites the plan of their delivery, and they believed it. (Ex. 
iv: 29-31) — Jesus required his apostles to preach the 
gospel to every creature in all the world, that every one 
might believe it ; for faith comes by hearing, and with- 
out faith it is impossible to please God. " He that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned." Mark xvi : 16. 

(8) The Israelites were required to quit serving the 
Egyptians and turn away from them — Jesus required 
the people every where to repent, turn away from the 
service of sin. 

(9) The Israelites were baptized unto Moses in the 
cloud and in the sea — Peter commanded the people to 
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remis- 
sion of sins ; and he wrote to the scattered strangers that 
" baptism doth also now save us." 

(10) The Egyptian task-masters of the Israelites were 
left just where the people were baptized unto Moses, 
and they saw them no more — those baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins leave their 
sins just where they are baptized; if they do not, this 
type is a false representation, and there is no fitness in 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE. 105 

it. In baptism the Eomans obeyed from the beart the 
form of doctrine delivered them and were then made free 
from sin. 

(11) The Israelites rejoiced in their deliverance on 
the shore after their baptism. (Ex. xv: 1.) — as soon 
as the Eunuch was baptized he went on his way rejoic- 
ing. Acts viii : 39. 

(12) The Israelites were not secure in Canaan as soon 
as they were baptized, but they had to be faithful to 
God or die short of the promised land — those baptized 
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, 
though freed from past sins, are not in heaven, but 
must live lives of devotion to God or be lost at last. 
Paul records the sad fate of the Israelites as examples 
to us lest we should fall as they fell. 1 Cor. x : 5-12. 

(13) The Israelites who remained faithful to God 
through their period of probation were conducted across 
the Jordan and into the land of Canaan, the inheritance 
promised to their fathers — those Christians who remain 
faithful to God through life will be conducted across the 
Jordan of death into heaven, the everlasting Canaan 
which God has prepared for them that love him. 

Xow this type with its lesson is before us — could any 
thing be more plain ? Can there be any possible mis- 
take in its application ? Can this whole matter be the 
result of accident ? Can we not see the finger of God 
in it from beginning to end ? Had not the apostle said 
that all these things happened to them as examples to 
us, would not such exact fitness have been conclusive in 
itself? 

Moses specifically locates the time of their salvation. 
" Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he 
will show to you to-day." " Thus the Lord saved Is- 
rael that day." Ex. xiv : 13-30. Language could not 



106 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

more definitely locate tlie time of their salvation at their 
baptism than it does here. I^ot only does the language 
itself show it, but all the facts connected with their de- 
livery show it so clearly that we cannot fail to see it 
without closing our eyes. 

All agree that the baptism of the Israelites in the 
cloud and in the sea was a type of our baptism ; but 
some seek to evade the force of the lesson so plainly 
taught in it, by the fact that God recognized the Israel- 
ites as his people when he appeared to Moses in the 
burning bush ; and as this was before their baptism, they 
assume that we must be God's people before we are bap- 
tized. But if this objection amounts to any thing 
against baptism for remission of sins, it amounts to just 
as much against /aiYA, for the Lord had not then revealed 
the plan of their delivery, but had then appeared to 
Moses for the purpose of making it known to him. The 
Israelites knew nothing about it. So they were God's 
people before they had faith, as well as before they were 
baptized. Indeed, they were God's people before the 
birth of Moses ; hence, if we must be God's people at the 
same time they were, it follows that we must have been 
God's people before Jesus, the antitype of Moses, was born. 
The objector forgets that the type was in the salvation^ 
or deliverance of the Israelites from bondage, hence, we 
cannot go behind the type for impressions in the antitype. 
To do this would destroy the fitness of all types. 

But we are told that the Hebrews were saved when 
the blood of the passover was shed, typical of Christ's 
blood which was shed for the remission of sins. Well, 
if they were saved at that time, and that was the salva- 
tion contemplated in this type, then it follows that there 
is no such thing as pardon or salvation now at all. The 
antitype must fit the type ; and those saved under the 



SALVATION OF THE HEBREWS FROM BONDAGE. 107 

antitype must be saved at the time and place indicated in 
the type. Then as the Israelites were saved when the 
blood of the passover was shed, so all persons saved 
through Christ, were saved or pardoned when his blood 
was shed, and there is no pardon of sin now, by faith or 
otherwise. 

But from what were the Hebrews saved by the blood 
of the passover ? From Egyptian bondage ? Certainly 
not. They were saved from death by the angel that 
slew all the first born of the Egyptians. "When this 
blood was seen on the door posts and lintels of a house, 
the inhabitants of that house were secure from death ; 
but were they saved from bondage in Egypt at that 
time ? 1^0 indeed. They were saved from bondage 
when baptized unto Moses in the cloud and sea ; and 
the word of the Lord plainly says so : " Stand still, and 
Bee the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to 
you to-day." ]!»^ot did show you back in Egypt when 
the blood of the passover was shed, but to-day ; " for 
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day ye shall see 
them again no more for ever." Ex. xiv : 13. And af- 
ter their baptism the record says : '' Thus the Lord saved 
Israel that day." What day ? When the blood of the 
passover was shed? I^To, but when they were baptized 
and their enemies were all drowned. Ex. xiv : 30. 
Could anything be more plain ? And when Paul gives 
the type he associates it with their baptism, and the re- 
sults following; and he draws the lesson acccordingly. 
1 Cor. X : 1-12. It may not be out of place to remark 
here that within the progress of one type God may give 
quite a number of other types. While the deliverance 
of the Hebrews from bondage and their location in the 
land of Canaan was in progress, very many other types 
occurred ; of which the passover was one, the tabernacle 



108 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

was another, and the animals slain as sin offerings were 
others ; but these do not destroy the lesson taught in 
the deliverance of the Hebrews from bondage. Other 
types have their places in the scheme of redemption, 
and each one may be considered in its place ; but as the 
Bible says, " Thus the Lord saved Israel that day," we 
may as well believe and accept it, without worrying 
ourselves to find something by which to evade the force 
of a truth so plainly spoken. 

As to how the Israelites were baptized see Gospel 
Plan of Salvation, page 350. Infant baptism connected 
with the baptism of the Israelites see Gospel Plan of 
Salvation, page 476. 

Our object in this discourse has been to see the time 
when pardon takes place, and we should feel thankful 
to God that he has made a matter of so much import- 
ance so very plain. God gave to man powers of thought 
and reason by which he can appreciate his will when 
clearly revealed to him ; and he has given man a com- 
plete revelation adapted to the organization furnished 
him ; and he expects man to exercise his God-given 
powers of thought in an intelligent submission to his 
will. Can we rise above our prejudices to an intelligent 
acceptance of the truth taught in this type ? Surely we 
cannot mistake its import, and surely our responsibility 
will be great, if knowing the Master's will* and our duty 
to him, we still fail to trustingly obey him. 

Lord Jesus, look down from thy throne in the skies, 

And help me to make a complete sacrifice ; 

I give up myself, and whatever I know ; 

Now, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat ; 

I wait, blessed Lord, at thy crucified feet , 

By faith, for my cleansing, I see thy blood flow ; 

Now, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE TABERNACLE. 



WHEl!T the cliildr^n of Israel were safe from their 
enemies, and from tlieir bondage and slavery 
in Egypt, they gave themselves up to a season of rejoic- 
ing in which they ascribed their deliverance to God, and 
from their expressions of gratitude we would suppose 
that they never would have forsaken or forgotten God, 
whose power had been so plainly seen in their deliver- 
ance. But alas, their songs of praise to God were soon 
lost in shouts of revelry, and dancing around a golden 
calf. 

The cloud in which they were baptized did not for- 
sake them when they were saved from bondage ; but 
went with them in all their journeyings ; and was a pil- 
lar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. By 
it God indicated their time, and route of travel ; and 
their place of rest. When it was God's pleasure that 
they go forward the cloud began to move ; and when 
it was God's pleasure that they go into camp the 
cloud ceased to move. Thus their movements and 
camping places were selected by God through this cloud, 
as clearly as though God had said when the cloud 
moved, " go forward," and when it stopped, " camp 
here." 

Guided by this cloud they went to, and camped at the 
base of Mount Sinai, and there remained in camp forty 
days. Moses went up on the mountain and God gave 
him the ten commandments written on two tables of 

(109) 



110 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

stone ; and a description of a building and furniture ; 
and a system of worship to be conducted in connection 
with it adapted to their condition in their nomadic 
state. In this system of worship God gave us another 
beautiful type of the system of worship offered the world 
through Jesus Christ in the gospel dispensation. The 
writer of the letter to the Hebrews, says : 

" Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of 
divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was 
a tabernacle made ; the first, wherein loas the candle- 
stick, and the table, and the shew-bread ; which is 
called the sanctuary. And after the second vail, the 
tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all ; which had 
the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid 
round about with gold, wherein loas the golden pot 
that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the 
tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubims of 
glory shadowing the mercy seat ; of Avhich we cannot 
now speak particularly. Now when these things were 
thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tab- 
nacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the 
second went the high priest alone once every year, not 
without blood, which he oflered for himself, and /or the 
errors of the people : The Holy Ghost this signifying, 
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made 
manifest, while as the first tabernacle was<yet standing : 
which was a figure for the time then present, in which 
were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not 
make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to 
the conscience ; which stood only in meats and drinks, 
and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on 
them until the time of reformation. But Christ being 
come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater 
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that 



THE TABERNACLE. Ill 

is to say, not of this building ; neither by the blood of 
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in 
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal re- 
demption for usJ' Heb. ix : 1-12. 

Here we learn that the building or tabernacle, a de- 
scription of which God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai, 
was a figure of the greater and more perfect tabernacle, 
which all agree, is the church. 

To understand the lesson taught in this type we must 
know something of the tabernacle of the wilderness, the 
furniture connected with it, and the system of worship 
conducted in it. 

The word tabernacle literally means a movable building. 
It was so constructed that it could be taken down, and 
carried from one camping place to another, by the Le- 
vites in whose care it was placed, and put up wherever 
the cloud indicated that the Israelites should go into 
camp. 

This building was thirty cubits long from east to 
west, and ten cubits broad from north to south. This 
equals about forty-five by fifteen feet. It was made of 
upright boards ten cubits long, and one and a half cu- 
bits broad. On the lower end of each board were two 
tenons set in sockets of silver. If these sockets were 
made of w^ood in our day they would be called mortises 
in blocks of wood. Of these upright boards there were 
twenty on each side, six in the west end and one at 
each corner, making fifty boards, and one hundred 
blocks of silver, each weighing a talent or about one 
hundred and fourteen pounds, or eleven thousand four 
hundred pounds of silver in these blocks that were 
the foundation of this building. The boards were over- 
laid with gold. In these were staples of gold through 
which passed bars of wood overlaid with gold. On the 



112 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

top of each board was a ring of gold through which 
passed a cord , so that when the blocks of silver were 
placed on the ground, the tenons on the boards put in 
the sockets, the bars put in position and the cords tight- 
ened around the top, it was quite a substantial building. 

This building was divided by a vail, crossing from 
north to south, into two apartments. The first was 
called the holy jjlace, and was twenty cubits long ; and 
the other was called the most holy place, and was of 
course ten cubits square. I say of course^ for the whole 
being thirty cubits by ten, and twenty cubits being cut 
ofi* the eastern end, the part remaining would be ten 
cubits square. This vail was suspended upon four pil- 
lars, and was of fine-twined linen, colored blue, purple 
and scarlet ; was made of exquisite workmanship, " with 
cherubim and cunning work." The entire building 
was lined and closed at the eastern end with the same 
material. 

The first ply of the covering or roof was of the same 
material as the lining; the second ply was made of goat's 
hair ; the third ply was of ram's skins, dyed red ; and 
the fourth or outer ply was of badger's skins. 

The building or tabernacle was surrounded by a fence 
made by suspending a curtain on pillars set in sockets 
of brass, and the space thus enclosed was one hundred 
cubits by fifty; the long way being from east to west, 
with an opening of twenty cubits in the eastern end ; 
and I may here say, " once for all," that all the en- 
trances were from the east. The outer court, or " court 
of the tabernacle " was entered from the east, the holy 
place was entered from the east, and the most holy place 
could be entered only through the holy place^ hence from 
the east. 

THE FURNITURE. 

The brazen altar was so called because it was made of 



THE TABERNACLE. 113 

durable wood, overlaid witli brass sufficiently thick to 
protect the wood against the fire when the offerings were 
burned upon it. It was also called the altar of burnt of- 
ferings, because on it were burned all the offerings made 
during the time the tabernacle worship was continued. 
It was 1a.Ye cubits square and three cubits high. It had 
four horns, one on each corner ; and four rings, two on 
each side, in the four corners ; through these went a 
rod or staff' on each side made of wood covered with 
brass. These were to bear the altar from one camping 
place to another. The pans to receive the ashes, the 
fire pans, shovels, basins, flesh hooks, and grate were all 
of brass. 

The laver was made of brass. Its dimensions are not 
given, but it bad a main sea, and a foot or rim. This 
contained water in which the priests washed at their 
consecration, and in their daily ministrations. In their 
consecration they washed the person, (Ex. xxix : 4) and 
in cleansing from defilement; '' Then the priest shall 
wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water." 
ITum. xix : 7. But in their daily ministrations they 
washed their hands and feet only. Ex. xxx : 19; 
xl: 31-32. 

The table of sheivbread was made of durable wood over- 
laid with gold. It was two cubits long, one cubit in 
breadth, and a cubit and a half high. It had a border 
and a crown of gold. Its dishes, spoons, bowls and 
cover were of gold. There were two rings of gold on 
each side, through which passed two rods or staves, one 
on each side, to bear the table. These were made of 
wood covered with gold. 

Tbe candlestick was of solid beaten gold. It had a 
central stem and six branches, three coming out of its 
8 



114 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

two sides. Its stem, branches, bowls, knops, flowers, 
seven lamps, snuffers, and snufl disbes, were all of 
beaten gold. It required a talent (about 114 pounds) 
of pure gold to make this candlestick and appendages. 

The golden altar, or altar of incense was one cubit square 
and two cubits high. It was called the golden altar be- 
cause it was made of wood and overlaid with gold suffi- 
ciently thick to protect it from damage by fire when in- 
cense was burned upon it. It was also called the altar 
of incense from the fact that on it the priests burned in- 
cense in their daily ministrations. Its horns and crown 
were of gold. It had four rings of gold, two on each 
side, through which passed two rods or staves, one on 
each side, made of wood overlaid with gold to bear the 
altar withal. 

The ark of the covenant was made of wood and over- 
laid with gold. It was two and a half cubits long, a cubit 
and a half in width, and a cubit and a half high. Its crown 
was of gold. " And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be 
set by the four corners of it ; even two rings upon the one 
side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. And 
be made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with 
gold. And he put the staves into the rings by the sides 
of the ark, to bear the ark. And he made the mercy 
seat of pure gold : two cubits and a half lO'ds the length 
thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 
And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one 
piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat ; 
one cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub 
on the other end on that side : out of the mercy seat 
made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And 
the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and cov- 
ered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their 



THE TABERNACLE. 115 

faces one to another ; even to the mercy seatward were 
the faces of the cherubims." Ex. xxxvii : 3-9. 

Much of this description may be deemed more minute 
than is necessary to a development of the lesson con- 
tained in this type. This may be true, but it gives us 
clearer conceptions of the building and furniture; and 
it teaches us a lesson of liberality by which we might be 
benelitted if we would study it. This people were un- 
settled, and certainly had but little opportunity of mak- 
ing money or accumulating wealth; yet when Moses 
issued a proclamation calling for material of which to 
construct the tabernacle and things connected with it, 
the people brought it with such liberality that '' all the 
wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, 
came every man from his work which they made ; and 
they spake unto Moses, saying. The people bring much 
more than enough for the service of the work, which the 
Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave command- 
ment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout 
the camp, saying. Let neither man nor woman make 
any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So 
the people were restrained from bringing." Ex. 
XXX vi : 4-6. 

Can a parallel to this be found in modern times ? The 
mind is bewildered in calculating the value of the mate- 
rial used in constructing this tabernacle and append- 
ages ; and the eye is dimmed by its dazzling splendor as 
we attempt to call before us a conception of it. No 
work of man has ever eclipsed it except the temple that 
succeeded it ; and yet the Jews, in their recent exit from 
slavery and bondage, brought free-will offerings to the 
Lord until they had to be restrained ; and yet we, in an age 
of vast resources, when multiplied millions are rolling in 
wealth until they know not what to do with it, can with 



116 GOSPEL SLEMO^'S. 

difficulty raise money enough to build a meeting house. 
If the tabernacle had to be built in this country to-day, 
would it be necessary to issue a proclamation restrain- 
ing the people from giving material with which to build 
it ? We have a better religion than they had ; and 
have more light than they had — do We love the Lord 
less than they did ? "Why were they more liberal than 
we ? 

We now propose to set up the tabernacle and put the 
furniture in position. As this is a very important part 
of our lesson we have made a ground-plan drawing that 
will assist us in locating ever}^ part of it as directed in 
the bill of instructions given by Moses. 

Let the attentive Bible student read carefully the last 
sixteen chapters of the book of Exodus for a description 
of the tabernacle and its furniture. Li these chapters 
will be found a minute description of each piece in de- 
tail ; and in the last or fortieth chapter will be found 
the erection of the tabernacle, and the location of each 
piece of furniture in its God-appointed position. As he 
reads the location of each piece let him look at the dia- 
gram and see whether or not it occupies just the place in 
the drawing that the word of the Lord commanded 
Moses to place it. Let us be specially careful at this 
point, for a mistake in the location of the furniture 
will be fatal to our study of this most beautiful of all. 
types. 

The exterior lines inclose the Outer Court, 50 cubits 
by 100. The Tabernacle was 30 cubits by 10, and was 
covered with a four-ply covering. Vail dividing the 
Tabernacle into Holy Place and Most Holy Place. A. 
C. Ark of Covenant. T. S. Table of Shew -bread. A. 
I. Altar of Incense. L. the Laver. B. A. Brazen Altar. 



THE TABERNACLE. 



117 



WEST. 



H^-?!ie, 



CS. T.5 



HB 




B.A. 




Outer Qoart^ 



EAST. 



118 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

" Thus did Moses : according to all that the Lord 
commanded him, so did he. And it came to pass in the 
first month of the second year, on the first day of the 
month, that the tabernacle was reared up. And Moses 
reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and 
set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, 
and reared up his pillars. And he spread abroad the 
tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the 
tent above upon it ; as the Lord commanded Moses. 
And betook and put the testimony into the ark, and 
set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above 
upon the ark : And he brought the ark into the taber- 
nacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered 
the ark of the testimony ; as the Lord commanded 
Moses. And he put the table in the tent of the congre- 
gation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, with- 
out the vail. And he set the bread in order upon it be- 
fore the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses. 
And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congrega- 
tion, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle 
southward. And he lighted the lamps before the Lord ; 
as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the golden 
altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail. 
And he burnt sweet incense thereon ; as the Lord com- 
manded Moses. And he set up the hanging at the door 
of the tabernacle. And he put the altar of burnt offer- 
ing by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the con- 
gregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and 
the meat ofiering ; as the Lord commanded Moses. 
And he set the laver between the tent of the congrega- 
tion and the altar, and put water there, to wash icithaL 
And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hand& 
and their feet thereat : When they went into the tent 
of the congregation, and when they came near unto the 



THE TABERNACLE, 119 

altar, they washed ; as the Lord commanded Moses. 
And he reared np the court round about the tabernacle 
and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. 
So Moses finished the work." Ex. xl : 16-33. 

This Scripture locates the furniture too plainly to ad- 
mit of mistake. The mercy seat w^as placed upon the 
ark, and its contents put within it, and it was brought 
into the tabernacle and the vail put up, covering it from 
sight. Then the table was placed on the north side 
without the vail, and the candlestick was put on the 
south side over against, or opposite the table. The gol- 
den altar was placed before the vail. Then the hanging 
was set up at the door, closing the tabernacle ; thus 
showing that nothing more was to be put within. Then 
the brazen altar or altar of burnt offering was placed by 
the door, and the laver was placed between the altar and 
the door. To this agrees the letter to the Hebrews, 
saying : " For there was a tabernacle made ; the first, 
[that is in the first apartment] wherein was the candle- 
stick, and the table, and the shew-bread; which is 
called the sanctuary. And after the second vail, [the 
first vail was at the door, the second vail divided the 
tabernacle into two rooms] the tabernacle which is 
called the Holiest of all [Most Holy place] ; which had 
the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid 
round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that 
had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the ta- 
bles of the covenant ; and over it the cherubims of glory 
shadowing the mercy seat ; of which we cannot now 
speak particularly." Heb. ix : 2-5. 

There is a remarkable emphasis given to the fact that 
this furniture was located as Grod commanded Moses. 
The Lord not only gave him specific directions for 
making every thing, but also for the location of every 



120 aOSPEL SERMONS. 

thing ; lieuce whenever a piece was put in position it 
was by divine authority, " as the Lord commanded 
Moses." He had no discretion in the matter ; and any 
departure from God's order was punishable with death. 
The priests' robe had on it " a golden bell and a pome- 
granate upon the hem of the robe round about. And it 
shall be upon Aaron to minister ; and his sound shall 
be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before 
the Lord and when he cometh out, that he die not." 
Ex. xxviii . 34, 35. " For Aaron and his sons shall 
wash their hands and their feet thereat ; when they go 
into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash 
with water, that they die not ; or when they come near 
to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire 
unto the Lord ; so they shall wash their hands and their 
feet, that they die not." Ex. xxx: 19-21. 

THE PRIESTHOOD. 

During the patriarchal dispensation the father was the 
priest of the family, and conducted the service for the 
family ; and in his absence the first born son officiated 
in his stead. When the first born of the children of Is- 
rael were saved from death on the night of their depart- 
ure from Egypt, God claimed them as his, and for a 
time settled the priesthood with them, but when the 
two sons of Joseph were made heads of separate tribes, 
making thirteen of the original twelve, God abandoned 
the first born as priests, and settled the priesthood in 
the tribe of Levi. '' And I, J)ehold, I have taken the 
Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all 
the first born that openeth the matrix among the chil- 
dren of Israel ; therefore the Levites shall be mine." 
Num. iii : 12. From this time the family of Aaron, of 
the tribe of Levi, became the priests, and the other Le- 
vites were engaged in the service of the sanctuary. 



THE TABERNACLE. 121 

But it was not enough to make a man a priest that 
he be a Levite, and have the blood of Aaron in his veins 
— he must be consecrated to that service in accordance 
with a ceremony given by God to Moses. And the cer- 
emony was very lengthy and somewhat complicated ; 
but only a few features of it were brought into the new 
dispensation, and these are all that are of practical value 
to us. There was a sin offering made at the 
brazen altar, or altar of burnt offerings where all 
sin offerings were made. This done he was taken 
to the laver at the door of the tabernacle and 
washed in or with water. !N"ext he put on the 
priestly garments. And it is worthy of note that the 
same term '^ flesh " is used to indicate the extent of the 
washing that is used to indicate the parts on which the 
holy garments were to be worn. " Thus shall Aaron 
come into the holy 'place : with a young bullock for a 
sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall 
put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen 
breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen 
girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired : 
these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his 
flesh in water, and so put them on." Lev. xvi : 3, 4. 

Having accepted the sin offering, been washed in 
water, and clothed in the holy garments, he enters the 
tabernacle and officiates as a priest — is a priest. He can 
go to the candlestick and attend to the seven lamps on 
it, which give all the light there is in the holy place. 
He can go to the table and on the Sabbath day eat of 
the sliew-bread kept on it. He can go to the golden 
altar, and there burn sweet incense before the Lord. 
This is close to the vail, and is the nearest approach 
that can be made to the mercy seat where God is, ex- 
cept by the high priest alone, and he only once a year. 



122 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

The common priests dare not even lift the vail and look 
into the most holy place. Even Aaron, himself was 
specially warned to " come not at all times into the holy 
place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is 
upon the ark ; that he die not." Lev. xvi . 2. 

We now have our type sufficiently before us to see 
the application of it in the antitj^pe. The court or j^ard 
was a place where all the people had a right to enter, and 
fitly represents that state called the world. The place 
where the seed of the kingdom was sown, in the parable 
of the tares. Matt, xiii : 38. That state which distin- 
guished the people from the disciples. " These things 
I command you, that ye love one aaother. If the world 
hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.. 
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own ; 
but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen 
you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." 
John XV : 17-19. From this state the people must be 
converted or they never can be saved. 

But what will they be when converted ? In our type 
the sons of Aaron of the tribe of Levi only, could be 
priests ; but under the more perfect system all Christians 
are priests ; and how men and women are converted from 
the world into priests is the great feature of our lesson. 

But is it true that all Christians are priests ? " Ye 
also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a 
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accepta- 
ble to God by Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. ii : 5. Yerse 9 : 
" But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a 
holy nation, a peculiar people ; that ye should show 
forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of 
darkness into his marvelous light." Surely all Chris- 
tians should do this. Again : " I beseech you therefore, 
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your 



THE TABERNACLE. 123 

bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 
which is your reasonable service." Rom. xii : 1. It 
was the business of the priests to ofler sacrifice, and here 
Paul admonishes the brethren at Rome to offer their 
bodies as living sacrifices in contrast with the animals 
slain in sacrifice under the law. 

Other Scriptures might be quoted, but these are 
enough to show that all Christians are ])riests under the 
gospel, and sustain the same relation that priests did 
under the law. Hence the importance of our inquiry — 
how do we come to the priesthood? or, hoio are ive made 
priests nndev the gospel? There must be some resem- 
blance between type and antitype. 

First then, there was a sin offering made — our sin of- 
fering has been made. Jesus Christ is our high priest 
and as such made our sin ofifering for us. " For such a 
high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, 
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heav- 
ens ; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to 
offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the 
people's; for this he did once, when he offered up him- 
self." Heb. vii: 26, 27. Again: "But Christ being 
come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater 
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that 
is to say, not of this building ; neither by the blood of 
goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in 
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal re- 
demption for us ; for if the blood of bulls and of goats, 
and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanc- 
tifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more 
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 
offered himself without spot to God, purge your con- 
science from dead works to serve the living God." 
Heb. ix: 11-16. Once more: "For Christ is not en- 



124 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

tered into the lioly places made with hands, lohich are 
the figures of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to 
appear in the presence of God for us : l^ov yet that he 
should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth 
into the holy place every year with the blood of others ; 
for then must he often have suffered since the founda- 
tion of the world : but now once in the end of the world 
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, 
but after this the judgment : So Christ was once offered 
to bear the sins of many." Heb. ix : 24-28. Finally 
on this point : " By the w^hich will we are sanctified 
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once 
for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and 
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never 
take away sins : But this man, after he had offered one 
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand 
of God." Heb. x : 10-12. 

Many other Scriptures bearing on this subject could 
be produced, but these are quite enough to show that 
Christ is our high priest, and that he offered himself 
without spot to God, and that he entered heaven w^ith 
his own blood having obtained eternal redemption for 
us. The candidate for the Jewish priesthood accepted 
his offering at the brazen altar, but our offering thus 
made by Christ we accept by faith in him. " Being 
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that 
is in Christ Jesus ; whom God has set forth to be a pro- 
pitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his right- 
eousness for the remission of sins that are past, through 
the forbearance of God." Bom. iii :24, 25. 

But the candidate next went to the laver at the door 
of the tabernacle and had his flesh w^ashed in water, so 
Jesus says : " He that believeth and is baptized shall 



THE TABERNACLE. 125 

be saved," and speaking of this typical lesson the Hebrew 
letter says : " Having therefore, brethren, boldness to 
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new 
and living way, which he hath consecrated for ns, 
through the vail, that is to say, his flesh ; and having an 
high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near 
with a true heart in full assurance o± faith, having our 
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies 
washed with pure water." Heb. x : 19-22. 

Having received the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ by 
faith in his blood, and having our bodies washed with 
pure water, what next ? What did the Levite do next ? 
We have seen that he next put on the holy garments. 
So we must put on the Christian character. " Our 
old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might 
be destroyed." Eom. vi : 6. " That ye put off, con- 
cerning the former conversation, the old man, which is 
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed 
in the spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the new 
man, which after God is created in righteousness and 
true holiness." Eph. iv : 22-24. " Seeing that ye have 
put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on 
the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the 
image of him that created him." Col. iii : 9, 10. 

When a Levite put on the priestly garments he en- 
tered the tabernacle — so we are delivered from the power 
of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's 
dear son ; in whom we have redemption through his 
blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Col. i : 13, 14. 

The order of worship in the tabernacle is nowhere 
given that I remember, but we know something of what 
was done. The priest waited upon the golden candle- 
stick, the seven lamps which furnished all the light 
in the holy place, which we have already seen was a 



126 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

figure of the cliurcli or kingdom of God's dear Son. 
We have found our high priest ruling over the house of 
God (Heb. x : 21) and Paul tells us this is the church of 
God. (1 Tim. iii: 15). 

As the seven lamps on 'the candlestick furnished a 
perfect light to the holy place, so the word of God fur- 
nishes a perfect light for the church of God. David 
said : '^ Thy word is a lanip unto my leet, and a light 
unto my path." Ps. cxix : 105. Yerse 130 : " The en- 
trance of thy words giveth light ; it giveth understand- 
ing unto the simple." "We have also a more sure 
word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take 
heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." 2 
Pet. i : 19. We read of certain characters who believed 
not, " lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who 
is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor. 
IV : 4. " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness ; that the man of God 
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works." 2 Tim. iii : 16, 17. The perfection of this 
light precludes the necessity for more ; and as it is our 
only light it is unquestionably the antitype of that 
which gave the only light in the type. 

The priests ate of the shew-bread every Sabbath day. 
There is a striking analogy between this and the Lord's 
supper in the more perfect tabernacle. It was set in 
order every Sabbath day, and the priests ate of it on 
every Sabbath, which was the day devoted to the serv- 
ice of God during that typical age. The disciples met 
together on tlie fjst day of the iveek to break bread. 
Wlien the Jew was required to observe the Sabbath day 
he understood that to be every Sahhath day. Then when 
we learn that the disciples met together on the first day 



THE TABERNACLE. 127 

of the week to break bread shall we not understand that 
to mean every first day of the week 1 The observance of 
the Sabbath day passed away with the law written on 
tables of stone. — 2 Cor. iii : 3-11. The first day of the 
week Christ rose from the dead and brought life and 
immortality to light through the gospel, and the disci- 
ples kept this day as regularly as the Jew kept the Sab- 
bath day. The shew-bread was lawfully eaten only by 
the priests. The Lord's supper was for the Lord's peo- 
ple only. But it was for all of them. 

The priests offered, or burned incense on the golden 
altar morning and evening. This incense was typical 
of the prayers of the saints which should be offered also 
morning and evening. " Let my prayer be set forth 
before thee as incense ; and the lifting up of my hands 
as the evening sacrifice." Ps. cxli : 2. " And when he 
had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twen- 
ty elders fell down before the Lamb, having, every 
one of them, harps and golden vials full of odours, 
which are the prayers of saints." Rev. v : 8. And an- 
other angel came and stood at the altar, having a 
golden censer ; and there was given unto him much 
incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all 
saints upon the golden altar which was before the 
throne." Rev. viii : 3. 

It will be remembered that this altar was before 
the vail and the nearest approach to the m.ercy seat 
that the priest could make. Let us learn, therefore, 
that when the Christian is pouring out the earnest 
prayer of a devoted heart he is as near God as he can 
get in this life. And if we would make the nearest 
approach to God that is allowed to mortals on earth, 
we must make that approach in prayer. 

The vail separated between the holy and most holy 



128 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

place, and this vail is the flesh, (Heb. x : 20) the confines 
of mortality. " We are confident, I say, and willing 
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present 
with the Lord."' 2 Cor. v: 8. When we pass through 
the flesh, or out of the body, we pass out of the holy 
place, or church on earth into the Most Holy Place, 
where God is on the mercy seat, and angelic guards 
are anxiously looking at the glory of his countenance, 
and ready to bear the messages of his love. 

A few plain questions and we are done, for we have 
already extended this discourse beyond reasonable 
limits. Please turn and look on the ground plan 
while we consider the questions proposed. It is said 
that a man can go to heaven just as well out of the 
church as in it. Please notice that all the entrances 
are from the east, and that there is no way into the 
most holy place only through the holy place. To enter 
it at all you must pass into the holy place and through 
the vail which is the flesh. ^NTow then, as the holy place 
was a type of the church, and the most holy place a 
type of heaven, how are you going to heaven only 
through the church ? 

The first thing in order was a sin offering made at the 
brazen altar, then wash at the laver. !N"ow, suppose we go 
by the altar and begin with the laver, what then? 
Does any one do this way ? How is it in baptizing a 
babe ? Does this not begin with the laver ? 

But they always washed before putting on the holy 
garments ; suppose we go to the brazen altar and accept 
Christ, the sin offering, by faith, and put on the holy 
garments before we wash — perhaps not wash at all — will 
this do ? Does any one do this ? This is a very general 
practice — get religion — become a Christian by faith in 



THE TABERNACLE. 129 

Christ. This puts on the priestly garments or Chris- 
tian character before washing. 

But suppose they go to the brazen altar, accept Christ 
by faith, put on the boly garments, or Christian charac- 
ter, and are received into the church by vote, given the 
hand of fellowsiiip, and baptized afteward ! This takes 
the laver from the outer court where God put it, into 
the tabernacle or holy phice, that is, takes baptism from 
the door into the church. ]^o one in the church was 
ever baptized by divine authority. 

But the golden altar was in the holy place hard by 
the vail and on this altar the priests offered incense. 
We have found this a type of the prayers of the saints. 
l^ow suppose we take the golden altar (^of prayer) out 
of the church and give it to the world, what then? As 
the Lord commanded Moses- so did he — as God com- 
mands us so ought toe. If any disregard of God's order 
was punished with death what will be our fate if we 
disregard God's law and substitute our own will ? " If 
ye love me keep my commandments." John xiv : 15. 

Thus we see a most perfect fitness of this type to the 
system of salvation taught by Christ and the apostles 
in the New Testament ; but if we attempt to fit it to 
modern theories, the furniture has to be removed from 
the positions in which God located it, and re-arranged ; 
or, rather, scattered around promiscuously. When 
each piece was located it was emphasized by, " as the 
Lord commanded Moses." But when taken out of the 
positions in which God placed them and located else- 
where, it cannot be said, " as the Lord commanded 
Moses," but as commanded by men. "If the Lord be 
God follow him ; but if Baal then follow him." " Why 
call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I 
say?" We have seen that any departure from God's 
9 



130 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

order in the tabernacle was punishable with death ; 
would it not be well for us to take heed how we set at 
naught the counsels of God ; and set up our own altars, 
and walk in onr own ways ? Though the punishment 
come not as speedily as in olden times, it will none the 
less surely come ; and be none the less terrible when it 
does come. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



FREEDOM FROM SIN. 

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves 
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey ; 
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience, unto right- 
eousness ? But God be thanked, that ye were the serv- 
ants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form 
of doctrine which was delivered you. Eeing then made 
free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." 
Eom. vi : 16-18. 

THOUGH the epistles were written to Christians, 
there are allusions, in most of them, to the way 
those to whom they were written had become Chris- 
tians ; a careful examination of which will exhibit the 
plan of salvation very perfectly. One such allusion we 
find in our text. 

The church at Rome was composed of Jews and 
Greeks, or Gentiles ; and the chief object of the Roman 
letter seems to have been to show that they were eman- 
cipated from the law of Moses, and were under the gos- 
pel of Jesus Christ. In the first chapter, he says : "I 
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for it is the 
power of God unto salvation to every one that believ- 
eth ; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For 
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith 
to faith : as it is written, The just shall live by faith." 
Eom. i : 16, 17. 

Again he says : " But now the righteousness of God 
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law 

(131) 



132 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

and the prophets ; even the righteousness of God lohich is 
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that 
believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, 
and come short of the glory of Grod." Rom. iii : 21-23. 
The law of Moses and the prophets of the Old Testa- 
ment bore witness to the righteousness of God through 
the system of faith revealed in the gospel through Jesus 
Christ, unto all and upon all who will believe. While 
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, it has no 
power to save them who will not believe it. Hen«3e the 
apostle goes on to contrast the system of w^orks in the 
law of Moses with the system of faith revealed in the 
gospel, showing that by the former there is no justifica- 
tion, but by the latter there is not only justification, but 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Pur- 
suing this line of thought he comes to the way they 
were made free from sin, and the time when it was ac- 
complished. This prepares us for the analysis of our 
text. 

We note first that they became /?^ee by becoming serv- 
ants ; and they became servants by obedience. This was 
a voluntary servitude. They were the servants of that 
to which they yielded themselves servants to obey. This 
shows us that man is perfectly free to yield to the al- 
lurements of sin and die, or turn to the service of God 
and live. God invites man to him, but he will not com- 
pel him to heed the invitation. He is as free to serve 
sin as he is to serve God ; but he is plainly shown that 
the service of sin brings death. This he makes still 
more prominent in the closing verses of the chapter. 
'^ For the end of those things is death. But now being 
made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye 
have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting 
life. For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God 



FREEDOM FROM SIN. 133 

is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." What a 
contrast ! sin and death — servants of God, the end ev- 
erlasting life. Shall we not turn away from the former 
and yield ourselves, heart and life, to the latter ? There 
can be no such thing as a servant without obedience ; 
hence if we would become the servants of righteousness 
we must obey God ; and by becoming his servants we 
are made free from sin — free from one master by be- 
coming the servant of another. 

But we next notice that the obedience which frees 
us from sin is an obedience from the heart. Though we 
do the very thing God requires of us, if we do it not 
with a sincere desire to honor God, the service is worth 
nothing to us. God is not mocked ; and he looks to 
the motive prompting the service rendered him. If a 
man obeys God to please his wife, or the wife to please 
her husband, the service is not from the heart. If a 
young man obeys God to please a young lady whose 
hand he hopes to win, or a professional man obeys 
God to secure professional patronage, such service is a 
foul stench in the nostrils of Jehovah, and he will spew 
them out of his mouth. 

Suppose a farmer has a good farm in this country, 
but he has more children than he can hope to be able 
to settle, or furnish with homes at the price land sells 
for in his neighborhood. He therefore determines to 
sell his land here and go to a new country where lands 
are new and productive, and so cheap that with what 
he can get for his land here he can secure as much 
as will be quite sufficient to make himself a good 
home, and furnish a home for each of his children. 
Acting upon these reflections he sells his farm and 
goes to the "Western frontier; and after looking for a 
time, he finds a large body of fertile land, well-tim- 



134 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

bered, with plenty of good water, in a genial and pleas- 
ant climate, witli all the prospective conveniences desir- 
able to make him a satisfactory settlement for him- 
self and children. He purchases and secures title to as 
much as he desires, and draws a plot of it on paper that 
will enable any one to iind it without trouble. He looks 
out a beautiful eminence that affords a commanding 
view of the landscape for miles around. Hard by there 
is a beautiful spring, furnishing an abundant and per- 
petual supply of clear, cool and pure water ; and he de- 
termines that on this eminence shall be erected the 
buildings that are necessary to make his future home. 
After determining the precise location, shape and size 
of his dwelling, he marks it off on the grouiid and makes 
corresponding signs on his plot, with ample directions 
concerning it. He next determines the location of his 
meat house — marks it off* on the ground and on his 
plot, l^ext he selects a suitable place for his barns and 
cribs, and marks them off, giving distance and degree 
from the site of the dwelling, and then transfers the corres- 
ponding marks to his plot. But he remembers that barns, 
cribs, stables, etc., are very liable to be burned, either by 
incendiaries or accident, and he determines that he will 
have his stables for the protection of his stock isolated 
from Ms barns and cribs; so that if he should lose 
part he may not lose all ; and he selects, as he thinks, 
a suitable location for stables, and marks them off' on 
the ground and on his plot. 

All things completed, he comes home, gladly meets 
his family, and reports his success. He has a son 
about grown to whom he shows his plot, and fully 
explains every thing ; and tells him to take the plot, 
and go to the land, and erect the buildings just as in- 
dicated on the plot and bill of directions ; and by the 



FKEEDOM FROM SIN. 135 

time lie can get the buildings ready for their reception 
he will have wound up his business and be there with 
the family. 

The son goes as directed and finds the land without 
trouble. Before going to work, however, he rides over 
the landy looks at the lines and the soil, and in short 
makes a general survey of the whole prospect. He is 
wonderfully pleased with his father's purchase ; and es- 
pecially is he pleased with the beautiful eminence se- 
lected for the dwelling house. It gives a beautiful view 
of the whole country for miles, and his heart swells with 
admiration as he contemplates the Eden home they will 
have in that beautiful place. 

Thus delighted he goes to work and erects just such a 
dwelling as his father directed, on the very spot desig- 
nated for it. He next finds the place selected for the 
meat house, and after careful consideration he thinks 
the place well chosen, and he erects the meat house just 
where his father had directed. Next he looks for the lo- 
cation selected for the barn and cribs. He thinks the place 
well chosen in the back ground, and a suitable distance 
from the dwelling, and feeling sure that a more suitable 
location could not be found, he builds them there just 
as instructed in the bill of directions given by his father. 
Finally he looks for and finds the place for the stables, 
and on looking around he concludes that his father has 
made a wonderful mistake here. " The food for the 
stock will have to be carried quite a distance ; and the 
stables are to be on one side of the branch and the cribs on 
the other ; and I shall have to cross the branch, and per- 
haps get my feet wet, every time I feed ; and when 
there comes a freshet I may fall in and get wet all over. 
It is just terrible, and I will not put it in that inconven- 
ient place, I am sure. It must be over here on the same 



136 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

side of the branch the barns and cribs are on," and he 
goes to work and puts it there. 

I^ow, I submit that that boy has not obeyed his fa- 
ther in any thing he did, and in place of deserving his 
father's blessing, he deserves the severest censure his 
father can give him. "Did he not locate the other 
buildings where his father directed they should be built? " 

Yes, but he did it because his own judgment approved 
it, and not because his father commanded it. When- 
ever his judgment ceased to accord with that of his 
father, he left his father's will and went his own way ; 
showing that he would have gone his own way at first, 
had not his father's way been his way. 

The obedient child, wishing to honor the father, only 
wishes to know the father's will, in order to know the 
line of his duty. When God commanded Abraham to 
leave his native country and go into a land that he 
would show him, he luent, not knowing whither he went. 
This was an exhibition of faith that met God's approval, 
and it is recorded for our imitation. Until we can feel 
a disposition to know God's will and do it, and to want 
to do it because it is his will, we are not in a fit frame of 
mind to acceptably obey God in any thing. 

But we cannot obey from the heart without first believ- 
ing with the heart. This is self-evident. Obeying from 
the heart implies an obedience springing from the heart, 
from the will or inclination of the heart. The heart 
must approve the service before we can heartily render 
it. We cannot obey Jesus Christ from the heart until 
we first believe in him with the heart. Until we believe 
him clothed with authority to command us, we cannot 
render hearty obedience to him. This is so very 
evident that all will agree to it without a dissenting 
voice. Are we entirely sure of this ? Let me admon- 



FREEDOM FROM SIN. 137 

ish you to be sure it is right before you agree to it ; for 
when you agree to it you make a full surrender of the 
whole doctrine of justification by faith only. Paul says 
that it was when the Romans obeyed from the heart that 
they were made free from sin, hence if they had to first 
believe with the heart before they could do that which 
brought freedom from sin, then it is certain that believing 
did not reach the freedom, but only prepared them to 
do that which did reach it. Do you see, now, what the 
concession does for you ? But it is too late to take it 
back now. It is true^-evidently true, and we should 
not want to take it back simply because it comes in 
contact with our peculiar views. 

Once more : He who is in love with sin — yielding 
himself to the service of sin ; delighting in sin ; working 
all uncleanness with greediness — cannot obey from the 
heart without a changed heart.* In order to obey God 
from the heart he must love God, and sin is opposed to 
God. We cannot love God and love sin at the same 
time. " If any man love the world, the love of the Fa- 
ther is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust 
of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
life, is not of the Father, but it is of the w^orld. And 
the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he 
that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John 
ii: 15-17. 

This Scripture needs no explanation. While the 
heart is filled with love of the world, with its sinful 
lusts, appetites and passions, there is no place for that 
love of God that prompts acceptable obedience to him. 
But when these carnal desires are subjugated to the will 



*For a full examination of the subject of a change of heart see 
Gospel Plan of Salvation, pages 222 to 232. 



138 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

of God until we cease to love them, and love him in- 
stead ; then we have all the change of heart that is nec- 
essary. When we really and truly cease to love sin and 
love holiness, when we cease to love the company of 
the wicked, and desire the company of the pure and 
righteous, then we have the change of heart that enables 
us to obey from the heart. This change in our affec- 
tions is the happy result of believing with the heart as al- 
ready seen. We love God because he first loved us ; 
and God commendeth his love to us in that while we were 
yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly God's love re- 
vealed to us, and believed by us, is certainly sufficient to 
cause us to love him and desire to serve him. This 
faith gives us proper conceptions of our unworthiness 
and sinfulness, and makes us realize our need of a Sav- 
ior. Now, what hinders obedience from the heart ? 

Just here is the great mistake by the religious world 
of to-day. In place of telling the sinner what God re- 
quires him to do that he may obey it, and rejoice in the 
pardon of his sins, and in a Savior's love, he is kept 
praying for, and expecting something, he knows not 
what ; and with a heart bowed in bitterest grief he goes 
from day to day, week to week, month to month, and often 
year to year as honest and as truly penitent as ever he can 
get to be ; and as willing and anxious to do any thing and 
every thing that he believes to be his duty as was Saul 
when Ananias went to and instructed him. And if, 
unbiased by any previous teaching, the same instruc- 
tions were given such a man he would gladlj^ accept and 
obey them without a moment's delay — even in the same 
hour of the night, if it were in the night. We dare not 
pray that an Ananias may be sent to such, since the 
law of the Lord has been written, and is open to them ; 
but we may pray that they may give heed to what An- 



FREEDOM FROM SIN. 139 

anias did say to one intlieir condition : " Arise and be 
baptized and wasb away your sins calling on the name 
of the Lord." Acts xxii : 16. 

But we are ready now, to look for the form of doctrine 
which the Romans obeyed, in doing of which they were 
made free from sin. And while we look for it you will 
please bear in mind that we have found that no one can 
obey from the heart without first believing loith the heart ; 
and hence when we speak of obedience from the heart, 
we mean an obedience rendered by one who has earn- 
estly and Scripturally believed with the heart before ren- 
dering the obedience of which we are speaking — such 
obedience as freed the Romans from sin. 

In what sense are we to understand the word form, 
in connection with the word doctrine, in our text ? The 
form of a thing is not the thing of which it is a form. 
Usually it is construed to mean mould, or form of teach- 
ing. Then the apostle meant to say that the Romans 
obeyed the doctrine itself in some particular arrangement 
of it. Is this the thought? What is the doctrine? 
Paul says : " Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the 
gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have 
received, and wherein ye stand ; by which also ye are 
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, 
unless ye have believed in vain." You preached the 
gospel to them Paul ? Yes, for it is the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believes it ; and these 
Corinthians were ^aved by it too, if saved at all. ]^ow 
Paul, what was the gospel you preached at Corinth ? 
" For I delivered unto you first of all that which I 
also received, how that Christ died for our sins accord-, 
ing to the Scriptures ; and that he was buried, and that 
he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." 
1 Cor. XV : 1-4. 



140 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

!N^ow Paul, did you preach the same gospel at Rome 
that you preached at Corinth ? Yes ; '' if we or an an- 
gel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than 
that which we have preached unto you, let him be ac- 
cursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any 
man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye 
have received, let him be accursed." Gal. i : 8, 9. 

Certainly Paul did not so anathematize any one for 
preaching another gospel and preach another himself. 
Then these three facts were the facts of the gospel, and 
was the doctrine preached at Rome as well as at Corinth, 
the form of which the Romans obeyed, in doing of 
which they were made free from sin. InTow let us look 
at these items separately. That Christ died for our sins 
according to the Scriptures — can we obey this ? l!^o, 
there is nothing in it to obey. And that he was buried 
— can we obey this ? We can see nothing here to obey. 
And that he rose again the third day according to the 
Scriptures — can we obey this ? We cannot see how. 
Mould these items as we may, or arrange them any way 
we can there is no way by which to obey them. This 
doctrine consisted of facts and could not be obeyed. We 
may obey something symbolizing, or resembling it, but 
the facts themselves we cannot obey. Then the apostle 
did not mean that the Romans obeyed some special ar- 
rangement of the doctrine itself. This is not the thought 
exactly. We have the gospel in facts, commands and 
'promises. The facts may be believed, the commands may 
be obeyed, the promises may be enjoyed; but neither /ac^s 
nor promises can be obeyed. There can be no obedience 
to them. 

The word form in Romans vi : 17, is from the original 
word tupon, usually rendered type ; but it is not again used 
in the Greek Testament in the same form it here ap- 



FREEDOM OP SIN. 141 

pears ; hence we can get but little assistance from anal- 
ogy. The word type, however, implies an antitype, or 
something made by the type and answering to it. That 
which is made by, and answers to the type must and 
will resemble the type. The apostle uses the word like- 
ness in the fifth verse of this chapter, conveying a some- 
what similar idea to the word form in the seventeenth 
verse ; and the word likeness may assist us in catching 
the meaning he gave to the word form. The form of 
the doctrine was that which the Eomans obeyed, and 
not the doctrine itself. The doctrine, we have seen, 
could not be obeyed, but they could obey the likeness or 
form of it — something symbolizing, representing or fig- 
uratively exhibiting it. 

But to recognize the form or likeness of a thing we 
must be acquainted with the thing of which it is a form. 
"Were we to present you a most perfect likeness or form 
of some person entirely unknown to you, you could not 
recognize the likeness, picture, or form, because you 
have no acquaintance with the person of which it is a 
form. On the contrary, were we to present you a form, 
picture, or likeness of some one you see every day, you 
would recognize it at once. So in order to recognize 
the /orm of doctrine obeyed by the Romans we must fa- 
miliarize ourselves with the doctrine itself of which they 
obeyed the form. 

We have seen that the first fact mentioned by Paul 
as the gospel, was " that Christ died for our sins ac- 
cording to the Scriptures." Then there must be some- 
thing in the form resembling this. In the second verse 
of this chapter the apostle asks : " How shall we, that 
are dead to sin live any longer therein." Then as Christ 
died FOR sin, the sinner must die to sin. 

Second item : " And that he was buried." Then there 



142 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

is something in the form resembling burial; hence we 
read again : " Know ye not that so many of us as were 
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his 
death ? " Being dead to sin we are ready to be bap- 
tized into the benefits of the death of Him who died for 
us. " Therefore we were buried with him by baptism 
into death." v. 4. Here, then, we see that as Clirist 
was buried, so we are buried with him in baptism. 

Third item : " And that he rose again the third day 
according to the Scriptures." Then in the form there 
must be something resembling a resurrection ; hence 
we read : " That like [yes like — this is the word] as 
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the 
Father, even so we also [having been raised] should 
walk in newness of life." Here we see that in baptism 
there is not only a burial but also a resurrection. 
" For if we have been planted together in the likeness 
of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his res- 
urrection." And again : " Buried with him in baptism 
wherein also ye are risen with him." Col. ii : 12. Then 
we see that in baptism we are both buried and raised 
with Christ. 

Posting up, then, we find that Christ died for our 
sins according to the Scriptures, and the Romans died 
to sin as required by the Scriptures. Christ was buried, 
and the Bo mans were buried with him in baptism — 
planted in the likeness of his death. And that Christ 
arose again the third day according to the Scriptures ; 
and the Bomans were raised from their burial in bap- 
tism to walk in newness of life. Thus they obeyed from 
the heart the form of doctrine delivered them, in doing 
of which they were made free from sin. And Paul 
says : " T^ow being made free from sin, and become ser- 
vants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the 



FREEDOM OF SIN. 143 

end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death ; 
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ 
our Lord." Rom. vi : 22, 23. Glorious end — everlast- 
ing life. End that never ends. Priceless gift — eternal 
life. Life that knows no death. 

But before leaving these items of the gospel we would 
call attention to a yqtj loose way of quoting them. 
When preachers attempt to tell what the gospel is, they 
say it is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. 
IN'ow we respectfully suggest that there is not a particle 
of gospel in that, l^o more than in the death of Wash- 
ington or any other man. 

What is gospel ? It is good news — glad tidings. What 
good news could there be in the death, burial, and res- 
urrection of Christ ? Quoted in that way, none what- 
ever. Does not Paul say these are the gospel ? l!^o, 
not exactly. The first item he gives is that Christ died 
for our sins according to the Scriptures. ITot that Christ 
died; but that Christ died for our sins. This is 
gospel or good news. Good news to me — that Christ 
died for me. We are interested in his death and may be 
benefited by it. Quoted as Paul gave it, it is good 
news ; but the vitality is all cut out of it by the loose 
habit of quoting it. 

" But the Baptism reported in the sixth of Romans is 
Holy Ghost baptism." Is it indeed? Take care lest 
you spoil the pouring in Holy Ghost baptism. The bap- 
tism in the sixth of Romans was a burial; and if that 
was Holy Ghost baptism then Holy Ghost baptism was 
a burial; and hence the pouring of the Holy Ghost 
was an insignificant circumstance, but not the baptism 
at all. 

But was this Holy Ghost baptism? We have seen 
that it was obedience to a form of doctrine that freed 



144 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the Romans from sin. Was there any obedience in 
Holy Ghost baptism ? " Being assembled together 
with them, commanded them that they should not 
depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of 
the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me." Wait 
for the promise of the Father ? what promise ? "■ For John 
truly baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized 
with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Acts i : 
4, 5. Here we see that the baptism of the Holy Spirit 
was a promise, and could not be obeyed. It never was 
a command to any one, nor was there ever any obedi- 
ence on the part of any one in being baptized with it. 
Then as the baptism recorded in the sixth of Romans 
was obedience, it is certain it was not Holy Spirit bap- 
tism. This ought to put that matter forever at rest, it 
seems to us. 

A few questions and we shall have done. If the facts 
of the gospel be the doctrine oi which the Romans obeyed 
the form or likeness, can any one tell what likeness there 
is to a burial and resurrection in sprinkling or pouring a 
few drops of water on the head of the subject? While 
the subject may have died to sin, surely the form or 
likeness of burial and resurrection must both be wanting 
in such procedure as that. And worse still. If the 
subject be an infant it could not have died to sin ; and 
in its so-called baptism every element of the form of 
doctrine obeyed by the Romans is wanting — every one. 

Lives there a man on the earth to-day, who has only 
had a few drops of water sprinkled or poured upon him, 
who can put his hand on his breast and lift his eyes to 
heaven and say, I have been buried and raised with 
Christ in baptism ? 

Will every one ask himself the question : " Have I 
obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine obeyed by 



. FREEDOM FROM SIN. 145 

the Romans? If not, have I been made free from sin 
as they were ? If not, will the end of my course be 
everlasting life, as Paul said theirs would be? Remem- 
ber that the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God 
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is a 
matter so important that you cannot afford to trifle with 
it. There is too much at stake on the decision you 
make concerning it. This may be the last time you will 
ever have an opportunity to decide the question. Cer- 
tainly you will decide it for the last time ere long, how 
soon you cannot tell. Hence the decision you make 
now may settle your final destiny. Then let me beg you 
to decide wisely, and decide now, for now is all the time 
you can certainly claim. The past is gone — ^the future 
may never come to you. Now is your time. Then 
come now. 



10 



CHAPTER IX. 



T 



JUSTIFICATION. 

justify means to declare innocent , or blameless. In 
this sense the term justification may apply to such 
as are accused of crime of which they have never been 
guilty. But it also means to acquit, to absolve from guilt 
where guilt has really and justly been incurred — to de- 
clare innocent after actual violation of the law — to de- 
clare blameless where blame has justly attached. In this 
sense it is applied in the justification of sinners, and in 
this sense we propose to employ it in this chapter. 

As all men sin and come short of the glory of Grod, 
we want to find a system of justification, if there be one, 
by which the guilty may become innocent, in the sight of 
God. In this sense justification must include the idea 
of pardon of sin — remission of sin — salvation from sin — 
blotting out of sin, so that the party may stand before 
God as though he had never sinned — as a new born 
babe, beginning a new life in the family of God — in the 
kingdom of God's dear Son. Surely, then, the subject 
of justification is second in importance to nothing that 
has ever engaged the attention of men. Let us, there- 
fore, open the Divine Volume and examine the subject 
with that care and attention which its importance de- 
mands. 

On this, as on most other subjects connected with the 
salvation of man, there are difierent and conflicting the- 
ories, each having its advocates claiming support from 

(146) 



JUSTIFICATION. 147 

the word of God. Before Luther's day the theory of 
Eomanism was all works — doing penance ; and he, very 
naturally, vibrated to the other extreme, rejecting all 
works, and adopting a theory of allfaithy or justification 
hj faith only. Out of these two have grown other theo- 
ries. One that justification grows out of '' God's free 
grace and love without any foresight of faith, good 
works, or any other thing in the creature as causes or 
conditions moving Him thereto." And closely akin to 
this is another theory that justification grows out of an 
eternal covenant made between God and his Son, in 
which the salvation of the elect was unconditionally se- 
cured by Christ, who in due time gave his life for them, 
and none others were at all interested in or benefitted 
by his death, as God never loved them or made any 
provision for them. 

It is not our purpose to enter upon an examination of 
these theories, or still others which we might mention ; 
sufficient it is to say that they cannot all be true ; and 
we think it will abundantly appear, in this investiga- 
tion, that they are all wrong. If we examine the word 
of God closely we will find a number of items in the 
system of justification revealed in the gospel, each one 
filling an important place ; and hence it cannot be true 
that man is justified by any one thing alone. To find 
these several items, and the God-appointed place and of- 
fice of each, is the object of this investigation. 

We suppose it is scarcely necessary to offer proof that 
remission or pardon of sin is embraced in the idea of 
justification. If any are troubled at this point, how- 
ever, we refer such to the following Scriptures as proof: 

'' Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, 
that through this man is preached unto you the forgive- 
ness of sins ; and by him all that believe are justified from 



148 GOSPEL SERMOxNS. 

all things, from whicli ye could not be justiliecl by the 
law of Moses." Acts xiii : 38, 39. Here we see that 
forgiveness of sins was preached through Jesus Christ, 
and that those who believed were justified or forgiven. 

And again : " Being justified freely by his grace 
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ; whom 
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in 
his blood, to declare his righteousness [righteous method 
of remission] for the remission of sins that are passed, 
through* the forbearance of God ; to declare, I say, at 
this time his righteousness [God's righteous method of 
justification] that he might be just and the justifier of 
him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. iii : 24-26. 
Here the remission of sins and the justification of the 
believer must mean the same thing. 

Finally : ^' But to him that worketh not, [the works 
of the law of Moses] but believeth on him that justifieth 
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the 
man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without 
works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are 
forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the 
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.' Eom. iv: 
5-8. This illustration drawn from David, by Paul, 
shows that the justification of the ungodly and forgiv- 
ing iniquity are one and the same thing. If a man is 
justified, his sins are pardoned, forgiven or remitted ; 
and if his sins are pardoned, forgiven, remitted, he is 
justified. Assuming, now, that this point is conceded, 
we wish next to look for the 

PARDONING POWER. 

We have already quoted : " That he [God] might be 
just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." 



JUSTIFICATION. 149 

Bom. iii : 26. This shows that God justifies the be- 
liever, and as none others are justified at all, it fol- 
lows that the pardoning power is alone in Him. But 
Paul says : " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of 
God's elect? It is God that justifieth." Eom. viii: 32. 
Seeing then that in God alone is power to justify or 
pardon, it follows that pardon takes place in the mind 
of God and not in the heart of the sinner. Man has 
no power to pardon himself, nor has he wisdom sufli- 
cient to enable him to devise a plan by which to obtain 
pardon of another, God is the oflended party, and 
from Him pardon must come, or the guilty can never 
stand justified in his sight. As God is the offended 
party, in whom is lodged all pardoning power, it fol- 
lows that he alone has the right to suggest terms of 
reconciliation ; and it is the duty of him who wishes 
forgiveness to accept the terms imposed without effort 
to change or supplement them in any way — indeed 
this he must do if the priceless boon is ever enjoyed 
by him. We cannot see why any one should wish to 
be pardoned otherwise than as suggested by God 
against whom he has sinned, and from whom must 
come the mercy sought. Rejoicing in his love he should 
gladly accept salvation on any terms, and comply with 
any conditions upon which he may stand justified be- 
fore God, and be re-instated in his favor. Speak, Lord, 
thy servant heareth. But are not all willing to do 
this ? Perhaps they are willing, but for want of proper 
instruction they sometimes fail to do it. When the 
blind lead the blind, they both fall into the ditch. They 
are like the Jews who '' being ignorant of God's right- 
eousness, and going about to establish their own right- 
eousness, have not submitted themselves to the right- 
eousness of God." Bom. x : 2, 3. 



150 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Seeing, then, tliat it is God that justifieth the ungodly, 
and showeth mercy to the guilty, we come next to in 
quire for the 

AGENCIES, MEANS AND CONDITIONS 

upon which justification may be extended to guilty sin- 
ners by a merciful Grod. And first we may remark that 
God has done for man what he was unable to do for 
himself ; but what he was able to do for himself God 
has required of him, and will not do for him. Man could 
not devise a system of justification for himself; divine 
wisdom has done this. Man could not consummate the 
system when conceived ; God sent his Son to do this. 
Man could not provide himself an oflering that could 
take away sin, but " we are sanctified through the ofier- 
ing of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all." All 
things being thus provided, we can believe and obey God, 
and we will be lost if we refuse to do this. 

Man having alienated himself from God by wicked 
works, could not re-instate himself in the favor of God, 
or do any thing to merit the forgiveness of his sins ; but 
God loved him still ; not only did he love him, but he 
so loved him as to provide a way by which to save him. 
This unmerited love or favor which moved the Heavenly 
Father to offer terms of salvation to man makes the 
salvation or justification 

BY GRACE. 

Hence says the apostle : " Being justified freely by his 
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 
whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through 
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness [right- 
eous method] for the remission of sins that are passed, 
through the forbearance of God." Eom. iii ; 24, 25. 



JUSTIFICATION. 151 

And again : " But after tliat the kindness and love of 
God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of 
righteousness which we have done, but according to his 
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us 
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that 
being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs 
according to the hope of eternal life." Titus iii : 4-7. 

We are, then, justified freely by his grace — how ? 
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That 
is, the grace of God caused him to give the world the 
redemption, or rather the plan of redemption that is 
in Christ Jesus, and those who accept it have the re- 
mission of their past sins and are thus justified by 
grace , for they did not, nor could they merit the salva- 
tion thus provided for them. And we could only be 
thus saved or justified by grace, after that the kindness 
and love of God appeared in the gift of Jesus Christ. 

Before leaving the Scriptures quoted we would call 
attention to the fact that both passages show that justi- 
fication or salvation is not secured by grace alone with- 
out any conditions to be complied with by man. ^ote 
first that we are only justified by grace through the re- 
demption that is in Christ Jesus ; and he is a propitia- 
tion only through faith in his blood. Hence, no faith, 
no propitiation ; and no propitiation, no redemption in 
Christ Jesus; and no redemption, no justification by 
grace. " Therefore it is of faith that it might be by 
grace." E.om. iv : 16. Hence, after the grace of God 
has perfected the plan of justification in the gospel, it is 
only the power of God to the salvation of him who be- 
lieves it. Rom. i : 16. 

But again, Paul says : '' God, who is rich in mercy, 
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we 



152 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

were dead in sins, hath quickened ns together with 
Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up 
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places 
in Christ Jesus ; that in the ages to come he ijiight 
show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness 
toward us, through Christ Jesus ; for by grace are ye 
saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it is 
the gift of Cod." Eph. ii : 4-8. 

Here we learn that the riches of God's mercy and 
his great love for his creature man, are at the very 
foundation of the system of salvation ; hence truly may 
it be said, " by grace ye are saved." But it is through 
faith; hence, no faith, no salvation by grace, or other- 
wise ; for without faith it is impossible to please Cod." 
Heb. xi : 6. 

But we are told that " faith is the gift of God and 
not the act of the creature." Surely the apostle does 
not mean this. "What does he say ? That not of your- 
selves, it is the gift of God. What is the gift of God ? 
When the last thought in a sentence is referred to, the 
demonstrative this is used to designate it ; but when ihQ 
word that is used it cannot refer to the last thought pre- 
sented, but must refer to something beyond it. To 
what then does it refer? "By grace are ye saved 
through faith, and that salvation^ not of yourselves, it is 
the gift of God." To this agrees the language of the 
same writer when he says : " The wages of sin is death ; 
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ 
our Lord." The gift of God, then, is not faith, but sal- 
vation which ends in eternal life." Rom. vi : 23. 

But it is " not of works, lest any man should boast." 
V. 9. Certainly this is true. As stated before, we could 
not save ourselves, nor could any works of our own . 
merit salvation ; if so, then salvation would be an equiv- 



JUSTIFICATION. 153 

alent for our works, and hence salvation would be of 
debt and not of grace at all. But are we to understand 
this as excluding all acts of obedience to the gospel, 
under the head of works ? Surely not ; for this would 
damn the last one of the human race. To believe on 
Jesus is a work ; not only so, but is the work of God, 
because it is commanded of God to be done by man. 
(John vi : 29.) Yet it is excluded if all works are ex- 
cluded ; still, Jesus says, " he that believeth not shall be 
damned." Mark xvi : 15. Hence if all works done in 
obedience to the gospel are excluded, then the last ray 
of hope for the salvation of man is swept away. Of 
course the apostle meant nothing like this ; but when 
he said "not of works lest any man should boast," he 
meant that salvation is not of works done by man, but 
is of God, just as Paul said, " it is God that justijieth,'^ 
and the means of salvation was His free gift to man. 

That we may see further that obedience to the gospel 
was not the works referred to by Paul, as excluded, we 
quote again his language to Titus : " ^ot by works of 
righteousness which we have done, but according to his 
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost." Titus iii : 5. 

Here it is distinctly stated that God saves us accord- 
ing to his mercy : and he does not save its by tvorks of 
righteousness which we have done. But he does save us 
in some other way. How ? By the washing of regen- 
eration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. By the wash- 
ing of regeneration here is meant baptism as every com- 
mentator of note agrees. It could not mean spiritual 
washing, for the renewing of the Holy Spirit is men- 
tioned specificalh' as an additional item. This being 
so it follows that baptism or the washing of regenera- 



154 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

tion hy which we are saved, is not included in the works of 
righteous?} ess by which we are not saved. Surely this is 
plain enough. 

By the grace of God we have bread to eat. In the 
production of bread God has done for us that which we 
could not do for ourselves. We could not provide the 
soil — God has done this. We could not provide the 
sun to give light, and heat the earth — God has furnished 
this. We could not furnish the atmosphere, the carbon 
of which is the necessary food of vegetation — God has 
furnished this. We could not provide the rain to 
moisten the earth — God has provided this. We could 
not furnish the seasons — spring-time to plant, summer 
to cultivate, autumn to gather, and winter to recuper- 
ate the soil, but God has arranged all this. We can, 
however, prepare the soil, plant the seed, cultivate and 
gather the crop and have it converted into bread ; and 
God requires us to do this, and if we do not use the 
means thus provided for the production of bread, we 
will surely perish, and ought to perish ; but he that 
uses the means, graciously provided, will, by the grace 
of God, have bread. So in justification by grace. God 
has provided the means and we must use them — believe 
and obey him, or we will as surely be lost as will the 
man perish for bread, who refuses to use the means for 
its production. 

But are the means of grace provided only for the 
elect? Paul says: "The grace of God that bringeth 
salvation hath appeared to all men." Titus ii : 11. 
Thus we see that the grace of God that brought salva- 
tion, brought it to all men; yet all men will not be 
saved by it. " Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." 
John i : 17. " He became the author of eternal salva- 
tion unto all them that obey him." Heb. v : 9. Thus 



JUSTIFICATION. 155 

we see that the grace of God has brought salvation 
within the reach of all men and all who obey him will he 
saved ; but those who refuse to obey him will be lost, 
however ample the provisions made for them. 

WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY CHRIST. 

Speaking of Jesus Christ Paul said ; " Be it known 
unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through 
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins ; 
and by him all that believe are justified from all things, 
from which ye could not be justified by the law of 
Moses." Acts xiii : 38, 39. 

Here forgiveness of sins through Christ and justifica- 
tion by him seem to indicate the same thing. Again 
Paul says : " Knowing that a man is not justified by 
the works of the law, [of Moses] but by the faith [gos- 
pel] of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus 
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith [gospel] 
of Christ and not by the works of the law, [of Moses] 
for by the works of the law [of Moses] shall no flesh 
be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by 
Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is there- 
fore Christ the minister of sin? Grod forbid." Gal. 
ii: 16, 17. 

Here justification by Christ through the gospel is 
contrasted with the law of Moses by which none can be 
justified. But the point to which we invite attention 
at present is that we are justified by Christ. The grace 
of God was manifested to the world in the gift of his 
Son. This we have already seen. When the plan of 
salvation was conceived by Divine Wisdom, it was nec- 
essary that it be revealed to his Son, through whom it 
should be set up and carried out on earth. Hence Jesus 
said, " I do nothing of myself ; but as my Father hath 



156 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me 
is with me, the Father hath not left me alone ; for I do 
always those things that please him." John viii : 28, 29. 
'' I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent 
me, he gave me commandment, what I should say, and 
what I should speak ; and I know that his command- 
ment is life everlasting ; whatsoever I speak therefore, 
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." John 
xii : 49, 50. Hence, *' by his knowledge shall my right- 
eous servant justify many." 

But it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to 
save them that believe ; hence it was not only necessary 
that the Father should give his Son the words of eter- 
nal life, but he must reveal them to those whose duty 
it would be to preach them to others. In his prayer to 
his Father he said : "I have manifested tljy name unto 
the men which thou gavest me out of the world ; thine 
they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have 
kept thy word, ^ow they have known that all things 
whatsoever thou hast given me, are of the.e ; for I have 
given unto them the words which thou gavest me ; and 
they have received them, and have known surely that I 
came out from thee, and they have believed that thou 
didst send me." John xvii : 6-8. 

Jesus is the center of the Christian system, the object 
of the Christian's faith, the anchor of his hopes ; and in 
him are centered all the blessings of the gospel. Well 
may we say with the apostle that we are justified by 
Christ, for he is the author and finisher of the faith. 

WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. 

'' Without the shedding of blood is no remission." 
Heb. ix : 22. But the blood of animals could never 
take away sins. (Heb. ix : 4). " Neither by the blood 



JUSTIFICATION. 157 

of goats and calves, but by his own blood be entered in 
.once into the holy place, having obtained eternal re- 
demption for us," Heb. ix : 12. But God commend- 
eth his love toward us, in that, "while we were yet sin- 
ners, Christ died for us ; much' more then being now 
justified by his blood we shall be saved from w^rath 
through him." Rom. v : 9. 

"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in his blood to declare [reveal] his right- 
eousness [righteous method] for the remission of sins 
that are past, through the forbearance of God." Rom. 
iii : 25. " In this was manifested the love of God 
toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son 
into the world that we might live through him. Here- 
in is love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us, 
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 
1 John iv : 9, 10. " And he is the propitiation for our 
sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of 
the whole world." 1 John ii : 2. 

" If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have 
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus 
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John i : 7. 
" In whom we have redemption through his blood, the 
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." 
Eph. i: 7. "In whom we have redemption through 
his blood even the forgiveness of sins." Col. i : 14. 
" For a testament is of force after men are dead, other- 
wise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth." 
Heb. ix : 17. We have not space for a comment on 
each of the foregoing Scriptures having reference to the 
blood of Christ, nor is it at all necessary — they explain 
themselves. Sufficient it is to say that man by sin for- 
feited his right to live, and God graciously permitted 
him to substitute the life of animals for his own life. 



158 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

But this blood could not take away sin ; it could only 
lay them over for a year at a time until Christ perfected 
these offerings, giving his life tor the redemption of the 
transgressions that were under the first testament. 
(Heb. ix: 15). He also, by his death, sealed and rati- 
fied the New Testament, " by the which will we are 
sanctified by the oftering of the body of Jesus Christ 
once for all." Heb. x. 10. We therefore have re- 
demption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins 
according to the riches of God's grace. The blood of 
Jesus was unlike the blood offered under the Old Test- 
ament in that sins forgiven through his blood were for- 
ever gone — blotted out— remembered no more. How grate- 
ful we should be that we are permitted to live under a 
better covenant founded upon better promises than that 
dedicated only by blood that could never take away the 
sins of those for whom it was offered. Strange th,at the 
Jews, after they had been , emancipated from the law 
under which they had been held for ages, and were in- 
troduced to the superior privileges of the new covenant 
should want to return again to the bondage of the old 
covenant. But as the bird that has been raised in con- 
finement, when set at liberty is not content, but wishes 
to re-enter its cage, so the Jews after they were set at 
liberty, were not content, but continually clamored for 
a return to the old covenant and the bondage of the law 
of Moses. When freed from Egyptian bondage they 
longed for a return to the fiesh-pots of Egypt and the 
slavery in which they had been held ; so when freed 
from the bondage of Judaism and introduced to the 
glorious light and liberty of the gospel, they were not 
content to remain free, unless the gospel could be en- 
grafted upon the Jewish law. But we need not marvel 
at this,. for there are many to-day who wish to amalga- 



JUSTIFICATION. 159 

mate the law of Moses and the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
Having never been under the law, it is strange indeed 
that they want to he entangled with it. Surely it must 
he that they have never clearly seen the perfection and 
beauty of the system presented in the gospel or they 
would not wish to adulterate it with defunct law or hu- 
man tradition. But we have not space to pursue this 
thought further here. 

WE ARE JUSTIFIED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS. 

Paul says : " And such were some of you ; but ye 
are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in 
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
God." 1 Cor. VI : 11. 

And what has his name to do with the justification 
of the sinner ? As the blood of Christ sealed and rati- 
fied the new covenant that took the place of, or suc- 
ceeded the old covenant, so that the name of Jesus 
Christ gives authority to the new covenant and every 
feature of it, his name gives authority to every com- 
mand in it ; and assures the tulfillment of every prom- 
ise contained in it. " Whatsoever ye do in word or 
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving 
thanks to God and the Father by him." Col. iii : 17. 
" For there is none other name under heaven given 
among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts iv . 12. 
" To him give all the prophets witness that through his 
name whosoever believeth on him shall receive remis- 
sion of sins." Acts X : 43. Thus Peter instructed the 
Gentiles at the house of Cornelius ; and that they might 
have the promised remission of sins, " he commanded 
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." v. 15. 
Thus they were washed, sanctified, and justified in the 
name of the Lord Jesus. 



160 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

When the believing Jews were cut to the heart on 
the day of Pentecost and asked what to do, Peter an- 
swered . ^' Repent and he baptized every one of you in 
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." 
Acts ii : 38. When the disciples found by Paul at 
Ephesus were properly instructed, " They were baptized 
in the name of the Lord Jesus." Acts xix : 5. Peter 
said to the cripple found at the gate of the temple, " in 
the name of Jesus Christ of [N'azareth rise up and walk." 
Acts iii : 6. When Paul was grieved by the spirit of 
divination in the damsel atPhilippi he said to the spirit 
" I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come 
out of her. And he came out the same hour." Acts 
xvi: 18. 

Other Scriptures might be quoted, but these are suffi- 
cient to show that the name of Jesus Christ is the 
source of all authority in heaven above and on the earth 
beneath. Every command given, every promise made, 
and every punishment threatened in the gospel, derive 
authority, validity and force from the name of Jesus 
Christ, the ever blessed Son of Grod. 

JUSTIFIED BY THE SPIRIT. 

In the passage already quoted it is said : " But ye are 
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the 
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." 
1 Cor. vi : 11. 

By the Spirit of our God we suppose is meant the 
Holy Spirit. Before leaving the world Jesus said to 
the disciples : " I have yet many things to say unto you, 
but ye cannot bear them now ; howbeit when he the 
Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth ; 
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he 
shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you 



JUSTIFICATION. 161 

things to come." Jolm xvi : 12, 13. Thus we learn 
that whatever was hickiiig to perfect the plan of sal- 
vation the Holy Spirit would furnish. Jesus assured 
them that the ^' Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send 
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and hring 
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said 
unto you." John xiv : 26. Thus the frailty of human 
memory was provided for by the Holy Spirit which 
was to be sent them from the Father, after Jesus should 
leave the world. 

Jesus said to his disciples : " I will pray the Father 
and he shall give you another comforter that he may 
abide with you forever ; even the Spirit of truth whom 
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, 
neither knoweth him ; but je know him for he dwell- 
eth with you, and shall be in you." John xiv : 16, 17. 

Here we learn that the Holy Spirit was promised to 
the disciples and was to dwell with and be in them for- 
ever ; hence, after it came it is scarcely necessary for 
us to pray to the Lord to send down the Holy Spirit, 
unless we can show that it has left the disciples and 
gone back to heaven. 

But from this quotation we learn another thing, 
which is, that the world cannot receive the Spirit. By 
the term world here we understand the unconverted por- 
tion of the race. But we hear Jesus saying of the Holy 
Spirit, that " when he is come, he will reprove the 
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." 
John xvi : 8. 

We learn then that while the world cannot receive the 
Spirit yet it may be operated on or reproved by it. - It was 
promised to the disciples — came to them on the day of 
Pentecost, and took up its abode in them, and through 
Peter's words dictated by the Spirit, cut the hearers 
11 



162 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

(who as yet were of the world) to the heart — reproved 
them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Seemg their 
lost and ruined condition they cry out, " Men and breth- 
ren what shall we do ? " Peter was inspired by the 
Holy Spirit and spake as it gave him utterance. Surely 
he knew what to say and how to say it ; and he knew 
well that what he said would be a rule of action for 
others in all time to come. If there was ever a time and 
place to invite inquirers to the anxious seat or mourn- 
er's bench that the apostles might engage in prayer to God 
for them, this was the time ; and had such procedure been 
in harmony with God's will, surely such would have 
been the instructions given. But the inspiring Spirit put 
a different answer into Peter's mouth, and he spake it in 
burning words fresh from the court of heaven : '' Re- 
pent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of 
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." "Was this an- 
swer correct and appropriate f And if we, to-day, give a 
similar answer, under similar circumstances, to a similar 
question, can we be wrong ? What was the effect of 
this teaching upon those who had made the inquiry ? 
As many as gladly received his word were baptized ; 
and thus they were justified in the name of the Lord 
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God, because the com- 
mand was given in the. name of Jesus Christ as guided by 
the Holy Spirit. This must be infallibly correct. 

But we are a little ahead of our lesson. In getting a 
brief view of the Spirit's relation to the plan of justifica- 
tion we have been precipitated into the obedience ren- 
dered by man. Let us go back and post up a little. 

(1) We have seen the grace, love and mercy of God at 
work in providing a system of justification for man by 
which he might be reinstated in the favor of God. 

(2) We have seen Jesus Christ the ever blessed Son 



JUSTIFICATION. 163 

of God, leave the realms of bliss and come to the world 
to execute the scheme of redemption conceived in infinite 
wisdom and given to him bj his Father for the salva- 
tion of man. 

(3) We have seen Jesus execute his will or testament 
containing ample provisions for the salvation of sinners ; 
and seal and ratify it with his blood — die that his will 
might go into effect — enter heaven with his own blood 
to make an atonement for the sins of the world ; that 
we might have redemption through his blood even the 
forgiveness of sins. 

(4) We have seen the 7iame of Christ so connected 
with the new covenant as to give force, authority and 
validity to every command, promise and threat xion- 
tained in it. 

(5) We have seen the Holy Spirit come to and take 
up its abode in the disciples, to bring to their recollec- 
tion all things Jesus had taught them, and perfect any 
thing that might be wanting, enabling them to preach 
the word of life in all languages spoken by man, so 
that every one might hear and understand the terms 
upon which God proposed t6 save him. And finally, 
we learn that the gospel preached was confirmed by 
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts 
of the Holy Ghost. Heb. ii : 4. 

Thus we find the scheme of redemption complete — 
the plan of salvation perfected — al] things necessary to 
a system of justification provided, which man was una- 
ble to provide for himself. But there are duties as- 
signed to man which he can do, and is required to do — 
conditions to be complied with by man with which he 
can and must comply — terms to be accepted by man 
which are every way reasonable and just. Will he 



lo4 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

accept the terms, comply with the conditions, and per- 
form the duties assigned him that he may he justified ? 

We have seen that in the production of hread God has 
provided the soil, the light, the heat, the moisture, the 
atmosphere, and the seasons which man could not have 
provided for himself; hut he can prepare the soil, plant 
the seed, cultivate and gather the crop, and if he refuses 
to do this he will most certainly starve. So we have 
seen the plan of justification prepared and placed before 
man for his reception, and if he refuses to accept the 
terms offered him he will as surely he lost as the earth 
will fail to produce bread without effort on the part of 
man. 

What, then, is left for man to do ? What are the 
conditions of acceptance on his part with w^hich he 
must comply in order to be pardoned — saved — justified? 

WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. 

" Therefore being justified by faith we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom 
also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we 
stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Eom. 
V : 1, 2. 

By this quotation we see that we are justified by faith 
and being justified we have peace with God, and that 
this peace comes through our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
that through our Lord Jesus Christ we have access into 
the grace wherein we now stand, and rejoice in hope of 
the glory of God. Thus we are by faith connected with 
the grace of God, the Son of God, and the glory of God, 
and being so connected we have peace with God. 
*' Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith 
without the deeds of the law." i. e. the law of Moses. 
Rom. iii: 28. 



JUSTIFICATION. 165 

Seeing that we are justified by faith, it is pertinent to 
inquire what faith is ; for unless we know what it is we 
cannot tell when we have it, or exercise it. 

When contrasting the gospel with" the law of Moses, 
the apostle uses the word faith as the synonym of gos- 
pel, meaning a system of faith. " Knowing that a man 
is not justified by the works of the law [of Moses] but 
by the faith of Jesus Christ [the gospel of Jesus Christ] 
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might 
be justified by the faith of Christ, [gospel of Christ] 
and not by the works of the law [of Moses] ; for by the 
works of the law [of Moses] shall no fiesh be justified." 
Gal. ii : 16. " And the Scripture, foreseeing that God 
would justify the heathen through faith [through the 
gospel] preached before the gospel unto Abraham." 
Gal. iii : 8. " After that faith [the gospel] is come we 
are no longer under a schoolmaster." v. 25. 

Again Paul addressed Titus as his own son " after the 
common faith." Titus i : 4. This shows that at that 
time there was, or had been, an uncommon faith. This 
uncommon faith was enumerated among the spiritual 
gifts, (1 Cor. xii : 9) and was imparted by imposition 
of apostolic hands, and enabled those who had it to per- 
form miracles. It was doubtless the same kind of faith 
to which Jesus referred when he said, "If ye had faith 
as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say to this syca- 
mine tree, be thou plucked up by the roots and be thou 
planted in the sea ; and it should obey you." Luke 
xvi : 17. We suppose no one claims to have this 
faith now. If he does let him remove a mountain or 
a tree by his word, and thereby establish his claim. 
This faith was purely miraculous and passed away with 
the age of miracles. 

But Titus was Paul's son after the common faith. 



166 GOSPEL SERMONS. • 

that is, Paul had preached the gospel to Titus and he 
had believed it. Then the common faith is the belief 
of the gospel without which none can come to God or 
be saved ; for Jesus said he that believeth not shall be 
damned. Mark xvi : 16. 

A few quotations will make this point clear enough. 
The Centurion went to Jesus and reported his servant 
sick. Jesus proposed to go and heal him. The Centurion 
said he was not worthy that the Master should come 
under his roof ; but he requested that he speak the word 
only, and his servant should be healed. Jesus said to 
those about him : " I have not found so great faith, no 
not in Israel." And to the Centurion he said, " Go thy 
way, as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee ; and 
his servant was healed in the self same hour." Matt. 
viii : 5-13. Here the belief of the Centurion is called 
faith, hence belief is faith. 

Again : '^ Abraham believed God and it was counted 
unto him for righteousness." E.om. iv : 3. What was 
counted unto Abraham for righteousness? Believing 
God. " But to him that worketh not, but believeth on 
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
righteousness." Here believing God and/azYA are clearly 
the same thing, and counted for the same thing. After 
telling us in the third verse that Abraham believed God 
and it was counted unto him for righteousness, Paul tells 
us in the ninth verse that " faith was reckoned to Abra- 
ham for righteousness." This clearly shows that believ- 
ing God was the faith that was reckoned to him for 
righteousness. 

Once more : " But without faith it is impossible to 
please him ; for he that cometh to God must believe 
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that dili- 
gently seek him." Heb. xi : 6. Here faith and belief are 



JUSTIFICATION. 167 

used interchangeably, and surelv mean the same thing. 
Other Scriptures might he quoted, hut these are enough. 
When a man believes all God has said, and believes it 
because he has said it, he has all the faith that God re- 
quires of any one, and he has all the faith any one can 
have. 

Since the uncommon or miraculous faith passed away 
with the miracles connected with it, there has been but 
one faith (Eph. iv : 5), and this is the belief of testimony. 
It may difter in degree but not in kind. It may be 
weak or strong, dead or alive, fruitful or barren, but in 
kind it is one. It is the belief of testimony and can be 
nothing else. 

There is no power in the English language to convert 
faith into a verb or into a participle. We cannot say, 
Abraham faithed God, but we can say Abraham believed 
God and his faith was counted unto him for righteous- 
ness. We cannot command any one to faith on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved ; but we can 
command any one to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and thou shalt be saved. We cannot say he that faith- 
eth not shall be damned, but we can say he that believeth 
not shall be damned. We cannot say, and that faith- 
ing ye may have life through his name, but we can say, 
and that believing ye may have life through his name. 
When the thought is expressed in the noun form w^e use 
the word faith, but if in the verbal or participial form, it is 
of necessity expressed by believe, in the form adapted to 
the construction of the sentence. 

Thus it is easy to see that faith is the belief of testi- 
mony, and without testimony there can be no faith. 
A fact must exist, then there must be testimony suffi- 
ciently clear to be understood, and sufficiently strong to 



168 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

be convincing or conclusive ; then when parties are suf- 
ficiently interested to take hold of the testimony there 
may be faith, but beyond the testimony faith cannot go. 

To make this clear to the satisfaction of all, let us 
consider some of the points established in the testimony 
concerning Jesus the Christ. He was born in Bethle- 
hem, of the Virgin Mary — grew up to manhood, was 
baptized by John in the river Jordan — did many mira- 
cles in confirmation of his claim to be the Son of God 
— was betrayed by Judas — condemned by Pilate— cruci- 
fied on Calvary, and buried in Joseph's tomb. E'ow 
had the testimony stopped here, how much faith would 
any one have to-day in his resurrection from the dead ? 
Just none at all. Oar faith would end in the tomb just 
where the testimony left him. Beyond this it could not 
go. Faith must end with the testimony. 

From this view of the subject it is quite easy to see 
what Paul m.eant when he said : "So then faith com- 
eth by hearing, and hearing by the word of Grod." E-om. 
x: 17. 

Faith comes by hearing the word of God which con- 
tains the testimony necessary to produce faith; and 
faith that does not come in this way is not the faith of 
which Paul wrote, for it did come by hearing ; nor is 
faith of any other kind, the faith that justifies ; for by 
Christ all that believe are justified from all things from 
which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. 

Jesus understood the subject just as Paul here taught 
it ; for in his ever memorable prayer to his Father he 
prayed for them that should believe on him through the 
words of the apostles. If your faith came by visions, 
dreams or mystical operations of the Spirit, then Jesus 
did not pray for you to be one with him and such as did 
believe through the apostles' words. 



JUSTIFICATION. 169 

That we are justified by faith^ has, we think, been 
made plain enough. But it is claimed that we are justi- 
fied by faith only, or by faith alone. Faith only, or alone 
means faith by itself, to the exclusion of every thing 
else. Surely no one really believes this. The objector 
does not mean that we can be justified without the 
grace of God, the mission of Jesus, the blood of Christ, 
and the Holy Spirit. Certainly not. Then the lan- 
guage is unfortunate, for faith only or alone would ex- 
clude all these. 

Then what does he mean? We suppose he must 
mean that faith is the only condition of justification to 
he complied with by man. Well, is this true ? Will any 
one say that we can, as sinners, be justified without 
repentance ? Jesus said : " Except ye repent ye shall 
all likewise perish." Luke xiii: 3. "The times of 
this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth 
all men every where to repent : " Acts xvii : 30. So 
the sinner can no more be justified without repentance 
than without the grace of God or the blood of Christ. 

But says the objector: ''When I say a man is justi- 
fied by faith only, I do not mean to exclude repentance." 
Then you ought not to say we are justified by faith only, 
for this does exclude repentance. But he explains : 
"Repentance is before faith, therefore the moment a 
man believes, he is justified, hence it is by faith only." 
This is not quite satisfactory. If faith and repentance 
are both necessary, changing places and putting repent- 
ance before faith, does not make it any the less impor- 
tant to justification, or any the less a condition of par- 
don. Wlien a blessing is promised on compliance with 
a given number of conditions, it is reached on compli- 
ance with the last condition, but this can be reached 
only through compliance with all conditions preceding 



170 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the last. Hence when there are a number of conditions 
indispensable to justification, it cannot be true that jus- 
tification is by the last condition only ; and it cannot, 
therefore, be true that sinners are justified by faith only, 
though it were true that repentance precedes faith ; 
which, however, is by no means true. Repentance is 
produced by faith, and never exists without it. 

There is but one verse in the Bible that speaks of jus- 
tification by faith only ; and that says : " Ye see, then, 
how that 

BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED, 

and not by faith only." James ii : 24. Here the phrase 
not by faith only shows that faith and works are con- 
nected in the system of justification; and each fills its 
own place, and can not be dispensed with. Faith is the 
cause of every act of obedience to God; for Avithout 
faith it is impossible to please God in any thing. Heb. 
xi : 6. Hence were it possible to repent without faith, 
such repentance would not be pleasing to God. 

We know of but one verse in the Bible that speaks 
of faith alone. That verse says : " Even so faith, if it 
hath not works, is dead, being alone." James ii : 17. 
Thus we see that James puts it in both forms — faith 
alone, and faith only. Faith alone is dead, and we are 
justified by icorks and not by faith only. Can dead faith 
save or justify an}' one ? " But wilt thou know, vain 
man, that faith without works is dead." Verse 20. And 
still again : " For as the body without the spirit is dead 
so faith without works is dead also." Verse 26. It 
occurs to us that argument ought to stop, on this sub- 
ject, just here. 

James' teaching on the subject of justification is in 
exact harmony with the commission under which he 



JUSTIFICATION. 171 

acted. He associated faith and works in justification. 
So in the commission given by Christ to the apostles, 
after he arose from the dead, and before he ascended to 
heaven, he said : ^' Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall 
be damned." Mark xvi : 15, 16. 

Here belief or faith and baptism are both made con- 
ditions on which salvation depends. By works we un- 
derstand James to mean just whatever is commanded in 
order to the perfection of faith; for "by works is faith 
made perfect." Repentance is not here specifically men- 
tioned, nor was it necessary that it should be, for repent- 
ance being the necessary result of a God-approved belief 
or faithy wherever faith is mentioned its necessary re- 
sult is presumed to be present whether mentioned 
or not. 

Let it be observed that Jesus does not say " He that 
believeth and is saved may or should be baptized if conven- 
ient ; " but he does say : " He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved." Salvation is promised on com- 
pliance with all the conditions stipulated. Was ever 
language more plain than this? It could not be misun- 
derstood in every-day afikirs of business life. Suppose 
I say to a business man : " Dig me a cistern and wall 
it up with brick and you shall have one hundred dol- 
lars." He accepts the proposition, the specifications are 
all made out and reduced to writing. The man digs the 
cistern, just as he agreed to dig it, and demands full 
pay for the job, though he has not put a brick in it — 
is he entitled to the one hundred dollars? Certainly 
not. He was to dig the cistern and wall it up with 
brick. He has dug the cistern, but not having walled it 
up with brick,, he has not brought himself within the 



172 



GOSPEL SERMONS. 



range of my promise, and cannot recover the pay. The 
commission says : " He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved." The man believes — has not been bap- 
tized — is he saved? Surely not. He has not brought 
himself within the range of the Savior's promise. He 
has not put a brick in the cistern. K he wants salva- 
tion let him obey the commands given ; then, and not 
till then, he will get salvation, or the promise of Jesus 
fails. But his faith must be alive to the performance 
of the work commanded, otherwise it is dead, being 
alone. Thus we see that James and Jesus agree most 
perfectly. 

Before leaving the commission we want to try it by 
the same logic that is used to prove justification by 
faith only, because, says the theory, repentance precedes 
faith. Faith comes after repentance, therefore justifi- 
cation is by faith only. Well, in the commission the 
style is *'He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved." Baptism comes after faith, therefore salvation 
is by baptism only. This is your logic — how do you like 
it ? Oh, circumstances alter cases, we suppose ! Of 
course they do ! ! 

But we are told that Paul taught justification by faith 
only. Surely he did not. He taught justification by 
faith, and so do we. There is no controversy about this. 
It is by adding the word only to Paul's teaching that 
the trouble comes. While his language is allowed to 
remain as he used it, there is no controversy whatever. 
Suppose I say I live by eating — that is true, for if I do 
not eat I shall die. But if I say I live by eating only^ 
then it is false ; for I live by breathing as well as by eat- 
ing. I live by sleeping, I live by exercise; but it is not 
true that I live by any one thing only. A place for 



JUSTIFICATION. 173 

every thing, and every thing in its place, is the order of 
life, and it is the order of justification as well. 

Paul and James hoth refer to Abraham's faith as the 
faith of which God approves. But we are told that 
Paul refers to Abraham's justification in the sense of 
pardon of sins, and James refers to it in the sense of ap- 
proval of a righteous man, hence the apparent difference 
in their teaching. Here again the theory is wrong. 
No man knows when Abraham tvas p)ardoned. He was just 
as good a man the first we know of him as he ever got 
to be. l^ever Avas there a more faithful exhibition of 
obedience to G-od than he gave, when first we hear of 
him. He was in Ur of the dial dees, surrounded by 
idolaters, and God told him to leave there ; and so 
strong was his faith that he went out not knowing 
whither he went ; and yet we are asked to believe that 
he was an unpardoned sinner then, and so remained for 
twenty-five years, until the time when Paul speaks of 
his faith as counted unto him for righteousness. Cer- 
tainly nothing could be more foreign from the truth. 
Paul and James both refer to Abraham as furnishing an 
example of the faith that is well pleasing to God — faith 
strong enough to take God at His w^ord and go right 
along in obedience to what He commanded. This is 
the argument they both draw from Abraham's faith; 
and God never approved any other kind or degree of faith in 
saint or sinner. When God told Abraham to do any 
thing he staggered not, in unbelief, but obeyed at all 
times and under all circumstances. When God prom- 
ised him any thing he believed and trusted Him ; and 
this he did from the very first mention of him in Bible 
history — would an unconverted sinner have done so f If 
the theory of justification or pardon by faith only, be 
true, thien as Abraham had the faith, how can it be that 



174 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

he was an unpardoned man up to the time of which 
Paul speaks of him as justified? Surely it cannot be. 
Then the theory, that Paul alludes to Abraham's faith 
at the time of his pardon is an unscriptural and illogical 
effort to make him prove a doctrine different from that 
taught so clearly by James, that a man is not justified by 
faith only. There is not the slightest difference in their 
teaching. If we remember that Paul never used the 
word only in connection with justification by faith, the 
trouble is all gone, and surely he never did so use it. 

There is not an example of approved faith recorded 
in the Bible, that was not perfected by doing whatever 
was commanded to be done by the party mentioned, 
and that before it was recorded for our imitation. The 
great cloud of witnesses mentioned in the eleventh 
chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews furnishes abun- 
dant evidence of this fact. And if we supply the word 
only after the word faith in the examples there given we 
shall make a palpable absurdity of every one of them. 

We have only room to examine a single case, but this 
will serve as an example of all. "By faith Abra- 
ham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he 
that had received the promises offered up his only be- 
gotten son, of whom it was said. That in Isaac shall 
thy seed be called." Heb. xi : 17, 18. 

Now, the theory is that when Paul says we are justi- 
fied by faith, that means that we are justified by faith 
only. Then when it is said : by faith Abraham, when 
he was tried offered up Isaac, it is meant that by faith 
only he offered him up. Now imagine the old Patriarch 
sitting in his tent, and by faith only going three days 
journey, attended by his servants and his son. By faith 
only his servants are left at thefoot of the mountain, while 
he by faith only ascends the mountain, builds an altar, 



JUSTIFICATION. 175 

binds his son thereon, and lifts his knife to slay him. 
This is all done by faith only, while Abraham is resting 
quietly in his tent, and has not moved hand or foot in 
the whole matter. Is this ridiculous enough ? Not a 
particle more absurd is it than it is to assume that we 
are justified by faith only, because it is said that we are 
justified by faith. 

Paul says : " For ye are all the children of God by 
faith in Christ Jesus." E'ow Paul, how is it that we are 
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus ? " For 
as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have 
put on Christ." Then by being baptized into Christ 
and thus putting him on in faith we become the chil- 
dren of God by faith in Christ Jesus, who said in the 
commission, " He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved ; " and in whose name and by whose authority we 
are commanded to be baptized. Then in him, '•' there 
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor 
free, there is neither male nor female ; for ye are all one 
in Christ Jesus ; and if ye be Christ's then are ye Abra- 
ham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 
iii: 26-29. 

Then when, in faith we are baptized into Christ and 
thus put him on, w^e not only become the children of 
God by faith, but we become the seed of Abraham and 
heirs according to the promise God made to him. Is 
this plain enough ? 

l!Tow, friendly sinner, when Jesus says : " He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized shall be saved ; " and Peter, to 
whom this commission was given, commanded believers 
to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and 
said to the saints scattered abroad, baptism now saves 
us ; and James says we are justified by works and not 
by faith only, is it safe to adopt and act upon a theory of 



176 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

justification by faith only f Is it not infinitely more safe 
to let tlie word of God be the guiding star of our lives? 
When the Bible says we are justified by grace, believe 
it, for it is true. When it says we are justified by Christ, 
believe it. When it says we are justified by his blood, 
believe it. When it says we are justified in the name 
of Christ, believe it. Wlien it says we are justified by 
the Spirit, believe it. When it says we are justified by 
faith, believe it ; but add not the word only, nor any 
thing else, to it, for it is dangerous to add to the 
word of the Lord. When the Bible says we are justi- 
fied by icorks, believe this also, for the Bible is the same 
inspired book wdien it says that, that it is when it says 
we are justified by faith. Seek to know what is re- 
quired of you in order to the perfection of your faith, 
and when you have learned what the Lord requires of 
you, go and do it without delay, trusting in God to 
verify his promises to you, and you will not trust in 
vain. His word cannot fail. 

When God says believe, do it. When God says repent, 
do it. When God says be baptized and wash away 
your sins, (Acts xxii : 16) do that too. 'Eo matter who 
says no, it God says do it, why tarriest thou ? Obey 
God and let events take care of themselves. When God 
says go to the mourner's bench, go there ; but if man, 
and not God, tells you to go there, you will do well to 
pause before going. When God says go, you may go, 
but when the light of his word ceases to shine on your 
pathway, it is dangerous to proceed. 

Let us beware lest we make void the command of 
God by our traditions ; for in vain do we worship him 
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 



CHAPTER X. 



REGENEEATION. 

"But after that the kindness and love of God, our 
Savior, toward man appeared, not by works of righteous- 
ness, which we have done, but according to his mercy- 
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly 
through Jesus Christ our Savior ; that being justified by 
his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope 
of eternal life." Titus iii: 4-7. 

WE think it likely tliat as mucli has been spoken 
and written on the subject of regeneration as 
on any other subject connected with the salvation of 
man ; why then should any thing further be attempted ? 
If it is fully understood in the light of what has been 
said, then nothing more is needed, and if it is not under- 
stood yet, is it likely that any thing we may be able to 
say will contribute to a more perfect understanding of 
that which is obscure, after so much thought has been 
bestowed upon it ? As there are many difierent and 
conflicting theories given by those who have favored 
the public with their views of it, we think it certain 
that all do not understand it. The Bible is not a book 
of contradictions, and hence it cannot be the source of 
conflicting theories on this or any other subject, there- 
fore, while such theories are taught and believed, we 
m.ay feel sure that the subject needs further inves- 
tigation. 

It is not our purpose to attempt, to harmonize these 
12 (177) 



1 



178 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

confLicting theories — this would indeed be impossible. 
Truth and error cannot be made to harmonize, and it 
is still more difficult to harmonize a number of conflict- 
ing theories all of which have their foundation in error. 
This is just the case in hand. IN'ot a single correct 
theory on the subject of regeneration has ever fallen into 
mj hands, or saluted mj ears — if I have seen or heard 
such a theory, then I am quite free to confess that I do 
not understand the subject myself, for certain it is I 
have not found any thing entirely satisfactory to me. 
It is quite probable that those from whom I differ will 
be just as far from believing what I am about to write. 
Yery well — they have had their say, may I not have 
mine ? I have read what they have written — will it be 
asking too much of them to hear what I have to say ? 
If I speak not as the oracles of God, then they ought 
to reject it, and will be sure to do it. All I ask is a 
candid and respectful hearing. Hear and then decide. 

Of the various theories extant, I will mention only 
one — viz : Regeneration and the new birth are identical. 
This is the theory of most of our brethren who have 
spoken out on the subject. This is not only untrue in 
fact, but is a pernicious and mischievous error, an error 
which leads to conclusions as objectionable to those who 
advocate it as they are to us. 

John says : " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the 
Christ is born of Grod." 1 John v : 1. It is conceded 
by all parties that when a man is born again he is in a 
saved state. Speaking of God, Paul says : " Wlio hath 
delivered us from the power of darkness and hath 
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in 
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the 
forgiveness of sins." Cob i: 13, 14. Out of the king- 
dom, then, we are subject to the power of darkness 



RE(iENERATION. 179 

— under the dominion of Satan — in the kingdom, we are 
freed from this evil power, have redemption through 
the blood of Christ, even the forgiveness of sins, hence 
in a state of salvation. 

!^s"ow then, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the 
Christ, is horn of God, and if a man be born of G-od, 
he is in the kingdom, has redemption through the 
hlood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and is saved, 
wdiether baptized or not. Do you see where you 
are ? The premises conceded, the conclusion comes 
like a conqueror and takes possession of the field, 
whether we so will or not. This looks to me like a 
clear, unequivocal, unconditional surrender to the doc- 
trine of justification by faith only. I know that those 
who believe regeneration and the new birth to be ident- 
ical are as far from accepting the conclusion as I am, 
but it seems to me they must have trouble to keep out 
of it. I am not unfamiliar with the route taken to find 
relief, but it is not very satisfactory even to themselves, 
and can never satisfy those who oppose them, while the 
thought expressed in the passage sparkles like a gem 
on its very surface. 

But we may be told that the phrase horn of God in 1 
John V : 1, should read, begotten of God, as the context 
clearly shows ; and it is so rendered in the !N"ew Version, 
and by all critics of any note every where. This is true, 
most certainly true, and brings out the real thought in 
the passage most beautifully, but what relief can this 
bring to him who has already admitted that regeneration 
and the new birth are identical ? Begetting is generation, 
and regeneration is simply re-begetting, and if regener- 
ation or begetting of God and the new birth are the 
same, what difference can it make which you render it ? 
You are tied hand and foot either way. " Whosoever 



180 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

believetli that Jesus is the Clirist, is Lorn of God, or be- 
gotten of God — regenerated; and regeneration being 
the new birth, whosoever thus believes is begotten of 
God — regenerated, born again, and saved beyond the 
possibility of a respectable quibble. 

Believing, as we do, that there is a vast diiTerenee be- 
tween generation and birth, or, if you please, between 
rebegetting or regeneration and the new birth, we can 
see a beauty and fitness in the apostle's language : 
" "Whosoever believetli that Jesus is the Christ, is begot- 
ten of God, and every one that lovetli him that hcgat lov- 
eth him that is begotten of him." !N"ever was there a 
truth more beautifully expressed by the inspiring Spirit 
of God. It enables us to clearly see and appreciate the 
whole theory of regeneration as taught in the word of 
God. 

Whosoever believetli that Jesus is the Christ is be- 
gotten of God — regenerated. But how shall they be- 
lieve in him of whom they have not heard ? and how 
shall they hear without a preacher ? In order to believe 
they must hear, for faith cometh by hearing and hear- 
ing by the word of God; and this is the word which by 
the gospel is preached unto you. Hence, says Paul : 
" Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet 
have ye not many fathers : for in Christ Jesus I have 
begotten you through the gospel." 1 Cor. iv : 15. 
Paul preached the gospel to the Corinthians, and when 
they believed it, they believed that Jesus was the Christ, 
for this is included in the gospel ; and when they be- 
lieved this they were begotten of God — regenerated. 
But were they born again at the time they believed ? 
Not yet. Were they physically born, when naturally 
generated or begotten? Surely not. How and when 
were they born again ? " And many of the Corinthians 



REGENERATION. 181 

hearing believed and were baptized." Acts xviii : 8. 
'Now they are both begotten and horn ; or regenerated and 
born again. Begotten or regenerated when they be- 
lieved through the gospel that Jesus was the Christ ; 
and born again of water and of the Spirit when they 
were baptized as required by the Spirit. 

But regeneration is the subject in hand for the pres- 
ent. What is regeneration ? Surely by this time we 
are prepared to define the term. Generate means to 
beget. Re as a prefix means again, hence regenerate 
must mean to beget again. We are generated naturally 
— ^we are regenerated spiritually. Birth means brought 
forth — 'delivered. We are born naturally, we are born 
again spiritually. We use the term spiritual in contrast 
with natural because the means are in both regenera- 
tion and birth appointed by the Spirit. 

But is not the same Greek word translated begotten in 
some places and born in others ? Certainly, but is this 
conclusive evidence that begetting and birth are the 
same ? Surely not. The word lyneiima is translated 
wind and spirit — are vdnd and spirit the same ? A thou- 
sand examples might be given where the same word 
means different things in different connections. The 
word gennao may be translated begotten or born as the 
context may demand, but it cannot mean both begotten 
and born at the same time and in the same place. Well 
established rules of exegesis tell us that in no language 
can a word have more than one literal meaning at the 
same time and in the same place. This is true of all 
words every where, and hence is true of gennao. It may 
be translated begotten or born, and the context must de- 
cide which, but it cannot mean both at once, or in a sin- 
gle occurrence. 

iTow if we will keep in mind that regeneration is simply 



182 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

re-hegetting the whole subject becomes easy enough. 
That this is its philological import is as certain as it is 
that language means any thing. We take it that Jesus 
and the apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, understood 
the figures they used and the language they employed, 
and if they did the}' never taught that generation and 
birth are the same, and consequently could not have 
meant to teach that the thoughts represented by these 
figures of speech are the same — never. 

That God is our spiritual Father I need not stop here 
to prove. James says : " Of his own will begat he us 
with the word of truth." James i : 18. Here we learn 
that God our spiritual Father begets uSy and that the 
word of truth is the instrument employed by him in 
this work. Peter says : " Being born [begotten cer- 
tainly] again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." 
1 Pet. i : 23. That the word horn, here should read 
begotten is admitted by all scholars, and it is so rendered 
by the revisers in the [N'ew Version. To talk of being 
horn of seed is not respectable nonsense. Here again we 
learn that the word of God is the incorruptible seed 
with which men are spiritually begotten. When this 
spiritual seed is deposited in a good and honest heart, 
and through this God-appointed means a hearty trust- 
ing faith in Jesus is secured, the subject i^ hegotten of 
God, truly and really regenerated, as John says : " Who- 
soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of 
God." 

I^ow as nothing can be naturally born that has not 
been previously generated, so nothing can be born again 
that has not been previously regenerated. The regen- 
erated man may be born again, no one else can be. Born 
again, how ? Born of water and of the Spirit. " Ex- 



REGENERATION. 183 

cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can- 
not enter into the kingdom of God." John iii : 5. 
Water is the element appointed by the Spirit of which 
the regenerated man must be born, hence washing in 
loater is that washing which belongs to or follows regen- 
eration by which Paul says God saves us. Is this plain 
enough ?* 

There is no place for water in regeneration. Regen- 
eration is the work of faith in Christ through the gos- 
pel. The inspiring Spirit said whosoever believeth that 
Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God, and it is true. 
We repeat with emphasis : as well may we talk of nat- 
ural birth without previous generaiion, as to talk of the 
new birth without 'previous regeneration. The one is just 
as absurd as the other. Such a thing cannot be. What 
then, becomes of the oft-repeated slander of baptismal 
regeneration f Baptism has nothing to do with regener- 
ation only as a sequence to it. But it occurs to us that 
the charge is not without some degree of plausibility if 
regeneration and the new birth are identical. 

But what becomes of the well-established doctrine of 
baptism for remission of sins if regeneration must pre- 
cede baptism ? Is not a regenerated man saved the 
moment he is regenerated? I think not. I know this 
will sound strange in the ears of many. How can 
that be ? Regenerated and still unsaved ! Yes, unques- 
ably regeneration precedes salvation if Paul understood the 
subject. He says: ''I«^ot by works of righteousness 
which we have done, but according to his mercy he 
saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost." Titus iii : 5. He saved us 



*ror a full and thorough examination of the New Birth, see our 
book on the Gospel Plan of Salvation, pages 189-208. 



184 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

according to his mercy. Yes, but how ? By regenera- 
tion ? 'No, he did not say so, but why did he not say 
it ? Because it is not true. Is this a good reason ? He 
does not leave us in the dark to guess at the matter, for 
had he so left us we might have guessed that we are 
saved by regeneration, but he tells us plainly how God 
does save us. Well, how is it ? He saves us by the 
washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost. Then he did not save us by regeneration, but 
by the washing that belongs to or follows regeneration, 
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. 

We have a very similar construction in reference to 
John's baptism. John preached the baptism of repent- 
ance for the remission of sins. What did John preach for 
remission of sins ? Not repentance, but that the baptism 
that belonged to or followed repentance was for remis- 
sion of sins. Yery well, the washing of regeneration. 
What does this mean ? Surely it must mean the wash- 
ing that belongs to or follows regeneration. Certainly 
then, we are not saved by regeneration, but by that 
which belongs to or follows it. Suppose I say the house 
of my friend gave me shelter for the night. What 
gave me shelter ? E"ot my friend, but the house that 
belonged to him. We are saved by the washing of re- 
generation. By what are we saved ? iJ^ot by regener- 
ation, but by the washing that belongs to it. Other 
illustrations might be given, but surely this is plain 
enough. 

That the washing of regeneration is baptism in water 
is already apparent, but at the risk of being tedious, I 
beg permission to suggest a few additional thoughts on 
this feature of our text. That it cannot refer to the re- 
newing of the Holy Spirit is evident from the fact that 
this is specifically mentioned as an additional item. 



REGENERATION. 185 

Paul says : " Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ 
also loved the church, and gave himself for it ; that he 
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water 
by the word." Eph. v : 25. Here I suppose the same 
washing is referred to, and it is a washing of water. 
And it is the washing of water by the Word. That is, the 
washing of water contained in or required by the Word. 
What other washing of water is contained in the Word 
beside baptism ? 

But it is the church, not the sinner, that is to be sancti- 
fied and cleansed by this washing. Ah, indeed ! Then 
the sinner is to be put into the church uncleansed, and 
washed afterward, that he may be cleansed ! Is this the 
idea ? The church is cleansed by cleansing the mate- 
rial of which it is composed, and this is done by wash- 
ing it in water as required by the Word. 

" Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance 
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con- 
science, and our bodies washed with pure water." Heb. 
X : 22. Here we find what the washing is. It is a wash- 
ing of the body, in or with water. This looks very much 
like what we call baptism. Peter says : " Baptism doth 
also now save us." 1 Pet. iii : 21. Hence the language 
of Paul : " According to his mercy he saved us by 
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost." 

All this is in perfect harmony with the commission. 
Jesus said : " Go ye into all the world and preach the 
gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved." Mark xvi: 15, 16. We have 
found that whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ 
is begotten of God, or regenerated. In the commission 
this is believing the gospel. If believing results in re- 
generation, then we want to find the washing of regen- 



186 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

eration, that is, tlie washing that bek:)ngs to or follows 
this belief that produces regeneration. Yery well. He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Believing, 
he is regenerated, and when baptized, he is saved with 
the washing of regeneration or the washing that belongs 
to or follows it. 

Finally, this view of regeneration hiries the doctrine 
of justification bj faith only, beyond the possibility or 
hope of resurrection. As an abstract condition the work 
of faith ends in regeneration. Whosoever believeth that 
Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God. Then he is pre- 
pared to be born again, in other words, saved with the 
washing of regeneration. The regenerated man may be 
born again — no one else can be, but he must be born 
again, or into the kingdom of God he cannot go. Jesus 
said it and it is true, as every thing he said was true. 

But we have not written this for the purpose 
of antagonizing this or any other doctrine, or for the 
purpose of coming in contact with the views of any 
one ; but for the sole purpose of developing the truth 
on a subject, as we think, not well understood. If we 
have come in contact with the views of any one, it has 
been incidental to the line of thought we have sought 
to present. 

But we are asked what we will do with the regenera- 
tion of Matt, xix : 28. This is not the same regenera- 
tion referred to in Titus iii : 5, of which we have been 
writing. This any one can see who will examine the 
context carefully. In Titus the word regeneration is 
connected with salvation : '^ He saved us by the washing 
of regeneration." This subject was not under consider- 
ation in Matt, xix : 28. This the connection will clearly 
show. Let us examine it. 

" Then answered Peter and said unto him. Behold, 



REGENERATION. 187 

we have forsaken all, and followed thee ; what shall we 
have therefore ? And Jesus said unto them, Yerily I 
say unto you. That ye which have followed me, in the 
regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the 
throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, 
judging the twelve trihes of Israel. And every one 
that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or fa- 
ther, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my 
name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall in- 
herit everlasting life." 

Here the word regeneration refers, not to salvation, as 
in Titus iii : 5, but to a state or time when certain things 
should be. The thought is not " ye which have followed 
me in the regeneration," but ye that have followed me, 
shall, in that state of things called the regeneration, have 
certain privileges. Salvation from sin was not the sub- 
ject spoken of here at all. 

We are by no means certain that the regeneration here 
spoken of has come yet. We have not jet seen the 
time when the apostles were sitting on the twelve 
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In this re- 
generation they were to do this; and they will do it 
when the regeneration here spoken of comes. "We have 
read much that has been written to prove that they are 
now on their thrones judging the twelve tribes; but it 
has never been satisfactory or conclusive to us. In this 
promise of Jesus some things were to be realized in this 
life ; others not until in the world to come. Mark and 
Luke both report this same conversation. Mark says : 

" Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left 
all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and 
said, Yerily I say unto you. There is no man that hath 
left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, 
or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gos- 



188 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

pel's, but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this 
time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, 
and children, and. lands, with persecutions ; and in the 
world to come eternal life.'' Mark x : 28-30. 

Luke says : " Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, 
and followed thee. And he said unto them, Yer- 
ily I saj unto you. There is no man that hath left 
house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for 
the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive man- 
ifold more in this present time, and in the world to 
come life everlasting." Luke xviii : 28-30. 

Thus we quote the three reports of this conversation. 
Matthew says they shall inherit eternal life, but does not 
tell us ivhen they will get it. He tells us that the apostles 
shall sit on twelve thrones in the regeneration, but he does 
not tell us when that will be. He speaks of the mani- 
fold things they should get, like those forsaken for His 
sake ; but does not say when they should have them. 
Mark and Luke tell us we shall have these in this life, 
and will get the eternal life in the icorld to come. They 
say nothing of the regeneration^ or thrones on which the 
apostles were to sit in the regeneration. Then we re- 
spectfully suggest that the time and nature of this regen- 
generation are not set out in Matthew's report of it ; 
and neither of the others reports the regeneration at all. 
As we have never seen the apostles on such thrones yet, 
and know not where the twelve tribes of Israel are that 
are now being judged by them, we take it that the time 
has not yet come for the regeneration of which Jesus 
spake. 

Jesus ought to be pretty good authority on this sub- 
ject and he has clearly spoken out upon it. He says : 
" When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon 



REGENERATION. 189 

the throne of his glory ; and before him shall be gath- 
ered all nations ; and he shall separate them one from 
another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the 
goats ; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but 
the goats on his left." Matt, xxv : 31-33. 

Bear in mind that he was to sit upon the throne of 
his glory in the regeneration, and this is here clearly 
connected with his coming to judge the world. The 
only trouble in avoiding confusion here is, (as in Matt. 
xxiv) that events are crowded together as though to oc- 
cur simultaneously, which we learn elsewhere, are to 
occur after considerable intervals. But that the regen- 
eration of Matt, xix : 28 is as far in the future as Christ's 
second coming, we think scarcely admits of a doubt. 

But we have another pointer to the same time. Af- 
ter John saw Jesus come, and all the armies of heaven 
with him (called angels in Matthew) he says : " And I 
saw thrones and they sat upon them, and judgment 
was given unto them." Eev. xx • 4. Here we have a 
plurality of thrones, corresponding, we suppose, with the 
twelve thrones upon which the apostles were to sit to 
judge the twelve tribes. This looks clear enough to us. 
Certain it is that the regeneration of Titus iii : 5 is not 
the same regeneration recorded in Matthew. The two 
are perfectly consistent, but quite difterent. 

Our work, in this effort, has been to prepare the sin- 
ner, by regeneration, for a birth of water and Spirit, 
that he may enter the kingdom of God and be saved. 
That he may be delivered from the power of darkness 
and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 
"We have sought to bru&h ,away themist and fog that 
have beclouded the subject, so that the truth may be 
seen by those who wish to know it. We have said, 



190 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

and we wish to repeat with emphasis, that the regeji- 
erated man may be born again — no one else can be.^ 

Are we able to rise above all preconceived notions, 
and long-cherished theories, to a reception of the truth 
as revealed in Holy Writ ? We are bound by no creed 
but the Bible. Every truth taught in that book be- 
longs to us as fast as we can learn it. If we are in er* 
ror with regard to any thing, we are perfectly free to 
accept the truth when we see it. We never stop to in- 
quire what is believed among us ; but what does the 
Bible teach ? This settles everything. Before a " thus 
saith the Lord" every one should be willing to bow at all 
times. We should have no wills of our own, but to 
know and do the Lord's will. Kot my will, but thine, 
Lord, be done in all things. This is the true spirit 
of the religion instituted by Christ. It was the spirit 
that actuated him, and it should control us. 

" Wide as the world is thy command, 

Vast as eternity thy love ; 
Firm as a rock thy truth shall stand, 

When rolling years shall cease to move." 



*For a thorough examination of the New Birth see Gospel Plan 

of Salvation, pages 189-208. 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 

" A "ND after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and 
^/a^ John his brother, and bringeth them up into an 
high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them : 
and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was 
white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto 
them Moses and Elias talking w^ith him. Then an- 
swered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good 
for us to be here : if thou wilt, let us make here three 
tabernacles ; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one 
for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud 
overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the 
cloud, which said. This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased ; hear ye him. And w^hen the dis- 
ciples heard it, they fell on their face, andr were sore 
afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, 
Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted 
up their e^^es, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And 
as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged 
them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son 
of man be risen again from the dead. And his disci- 
ples asked him, saying, Wliy then say the scribes that 
Elias must first come ? And Jesus answered and said 
unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all 
things. But I say unto you. That Elias is come al- 
ready, and they knew him not, but have done unto 
him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the 

(191) 



1U2 GOSPEL SERJMONS. 

Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples under- 
stood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." 
Matt, xvii: 1-13. 

While there is great unanimity among commentators 
as to the facts connected with the transfiguration, they 
are not so well agreed as to the lesson intended to be 
taught by it. 

(1) By some it is made to teach the resurrection of the 
dead. While we believe as firmly that the dead will be 
raised as we believe any other well-established fact taught 
in the Bible, yet it would require much clearer proof 
than can be found in the transfiguration to establish our 
faith in it. To our mind there is about as much proof in 
the appearance of Samuel from the dead, as in the ap- 
pearance of Moses and Elias. This proof is entirely too 
short. Moses and Elias Were both good men — who rep- 
resented the wicked in the proof here furnished ? The 
wicked must be raised as well as the righteous. When 
Christ taught the resurrection he did not leave out the 
wicked. " Marvel not at this, for the hour is com- 
ing, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear 
his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done 
good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have 
done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." John 
V : 27, 28. This announcement was made before the 
transfiguration, and it occurs to us that Peter, James, 
and John did not need proof of the resurrection after 
this ; and if they did, they would scarcely find it where 
there was not a word said about it. 

(2) By others it is made to teach the doctrine of fu- 
ture recognition, i. e. that the saints will personally know 
each other in heaven. It is not necessary to our pres- 
ent purpose to inquire whether this doctrine be true or 
false ; sufficient it is to say that it is scarcely perceptible 



THE TRANSFKiUKATION. 193 

in the transfiguration. It is assumed that the saints 
will carry a personal recollection with them to heaven, 
and will therefore know those there, with whom they 
were acquainted here — husbands and wives, parents and 
children will remember and know each other as such ; 
and this is all shown by the fact that Peter, James and 
John knew Moses and Elias. Well, but this proves too 
much, and that which proves too much proves nothing 
at all. It is certain that the apostles had never seen 
Moses, and if Elias of the transfiguration was the old 
Jewish prophet, Elijah, then it is certain they had never 
seen him ; hence, no recollection of personality could 
have enabled the apostles to recognize them. If this 
proves any thing, it proves that if we get to heaven, we 
shall know every one there, whether we knew them be- 
fore or not. We will know Abel, IToah, Abraham, and 
Lot, just as well at first sight as we will know our 
mothers. Does any one believe this ? Hardly, we 
guess. The apostles heard Moses and Elias talking 
with Jesus. (Matt, xvii : 3. Mark ix : 4. Luke ix : 
30.) They talked to him about his crucifixion at Jeru- 
salem ; and we think it much more likely that they had 
knowledge of them by what they heard, than by per- 
sonal marks of identity which they could not have 
known otherwise than by inspiration. 

(3) Others think the transfiguration designed to teach 
three states of existence for man — (1) the living or 
earthly state, (2) the dead or intermediate state, and (3) 
the heavenly or final state ; and that the transfiguration 
furnished a representative of each state — viz : Jesus in 
the living state ; Moses from the dead or intermediate 
state ; and Elijah, who was taken alive to heaven, from 
the heavenly state. 

I once listened to a very fine discourse by a brother 
13 



194 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

on the " Power of the Word," and after it was done he 
asked me what I thought of it. I told him I thought 
it a most excellent discourse, but I was at a loss to see 
any connection between the discourse and the text from 
which he preached it. I could not see how he got the 
sermon out of the text. I am inclined to admit, nay I 
believe in three such states for the righteous, but I am un- 
able to see that the transfiguration was intended to 
teach it, or that it even incidentally does teach it. 

Matthew, Mark and Luke record the transfiguration 
and not one of them, either directly or remotely, alludes 
to the three states of man. Is not this a little significant ? 
Peter mentions a thrilling announcement which he 
heard on the " holy mount," and yet he makes no refer- 
ence to the three states taught there. Is it not a little 
strange that no one of the inspired writers mentions 
any thing of such a lesson taught in that most wonder- 
ful vision ? The conclusion comes like a conqueror, 
that no such thing was seen by them, or some one of 
them would have mentioned it some where. What 
right have we to come to such a conclusion when there 
is not an intimation of it any where ? 

But was the Elias of the transfiguration the Elijah of 
the Jewish prophets ? If not, he could not have been a 
representative of the heavenly state in the vision. Were 
we to concede that he was, it would not authorize the 
assumption that he was there as a representative of the heav- 
enly state, in the absence of any mention of it by those 
who record the facts concerning it. But let us see how 
this is : 

Elias and Elijah are but different forms of the same 
name. We concede this to start with. The name Elias 
of the common version is Elijah of the new version. 
But this settles not our question — was the Mijah of the 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 195 

vision the Elijah of the Hebrew prophets ? With one voice 
the commentators, preachers and writers, great and 
small, ancient and modern, say yes; and in the face of 
such unanimous authority we fear to say no ; for an ex- 
egesis so hoary with years, and honored with universal 
acceptance, must he cautiously set aside. This is right 
— unquestionahly right. But it stamps it not with the 
seal of infallibility. However old, and honorahle a the- 
ory may he, it may still be wrong.* TTe still have the 
right to think for ourselves, and it is our duty to do so. 
'' Prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good," 
is still very wholesome advice. 

God by the mouth of Malachi said : ^i Behold, I will 
send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the 
great and dreadful day of the Lord ; and he shall turn 
the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart 
of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite 
the earth with a curse." Mai. iv : 5, 6. 

Here we find that God said he would send Elijah 
the prophet, and this was quoted by the angel who an- 
nounced the birth of John to Zacharias in the temple. 
" And he shall go before him in the spirit and power 
of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, 
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ; to make 
ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke i: 17. 
Thus we see that John the Baptist was Elijah the prophet 
who was to come. After Jesus had sent back the messen- 
gers sent to him by John, he said : " And if ye will re- 
ceive it, this is Elias [new version, Elijah] which was 
for to come." Matt, xi : 14. 

After the transfiguration, " as they came down from 
the mountain, Jesus charged them, sapng, Tell the 
vision to no man till the Son of man be risen from the 
dead." Please note the fact that the vision is the subject 



196 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

of their conversation — "■ tell the vision to no man," etc. 
And they are coming right down the mountain from 
where it had occurred hut a short time before. What 
could be more natural than that they, so soon, should 
think and talk of little else ? " And his disciples asked 
him, saying, "Why then say the scribes that Elias [Eli- 
jah] must first come? And Jesus answered and said 
unto them, Elias [Elijah] truly shall first come, and re- 
store all things. But I say unto you, That Elias [Eli- 
jah] is come already, and they knew him not, but have 
done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall 
also the Son of man sufier of them. Then the disci- 
ples understood that he spake unto them o± John tbe 
Baptist." Matt, xvii : 10-13. 

I^ow how are we to conclude that the Elijah of this 
conversation about the vision, so soon after its occur- 
rence, was a different person from the Elijah seen in the 
vision, without a single intimation of any change of 
thought with reference to the persons spoken of? 
Without this conversation we might be left in doubt as 
to which Elijah was seen in the vision ; but with this 
conversation it looks to us like the matter was settled 
— clearly settled. 

l^ow we have learned that John the Baptist was Eli- 
jah the prophet, that God, by Malachi, said he would 
send — we have learned that John the baptist was to 
come in the spirit and power of Elijah — we have learned 
that John the Baptist was the Elijah that was to come, 
and John the Baptist was the Elijah that had come ; 
and we have learned that John the Baptist was the Eli- 
jah that was put to death by the wicked, as Jesus was 
to be put to death in the near future ; and much of this 
we have learned from a conversation about the vision be- 
tween Christ and those loho witnessed it. Then how are we 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 197 

to know that Jolm the Baptist was not the Elijah seen 
in the transfiguration ? Is there a single intimation 
forbidding it? We think not. Then why should the 
connection he broken to make it refer to the old Jewish 
prophet ? "We confess we are unable to see a reason for 
it, and therefore cannot teach it. 

We have not forgotten that when John was baptizing 
the people, the Jews asked him if he were Elijah and 
he said he was not. This, of course, was understood by 
him to refer to the old Jewish prophet ; otherwise we 
bring him and Jesus into contradiction of each other, 
for Jesus said John was the Elijah that was to come. 
This shows that the prophecies concerning the com- 
ing of Elijah in the person of John the Baptist were 
not understood by the Jews, nor perhaps by John him- 
self at that time. 

But we are told that Moses appeared in the transfigu- 
ration as the Jewish law-giver, and Elijah as a repre- 
sentative of the Jewish prophets. This is pure and 
unadulterated assumption — nothing else. Where is the 
proof that Elijah appeared in the vision as a representa- 
tive of the Jewish prophets ? I have read nothing from 
any one who attempted to prove it. And had a prophet 
been desirable to complete the vision, Jesus said : 
" Among those that are born of women there is not 
a greater prophet than John the Baptist." Luke vii : 
28. It is not necessary to tell us that his greatness 
was not as a prophet — Jesus said there is not a greater 
prophet than John the Baptist — that settles that point 
with us. If the object had been a representative 
prophet, would not John have filled this demand, as 
there had never been a greater prophet born of women 
than was he ? He was not only a prophet, but he was 
greater than a prophet. Matt, ii : 9. He was to pre- 



198 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

pare the way of the Lord before him. He was to give 
knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission 
of their sins. Hence he was the law-giver through 
whom the law of pardon was proclaimed in that pre- 
paratory work. His conception was as much a miracle 
as was that of Jesus himself. But it is denied that he 
was a law-giver, because we no where read of the law 
of John. What constitutes a law-giver? What made 
Moses a law-giver ? Did he proclaim his own laws, or 
God's laws ? He was a law-giver only in that he was 
the person through whom Grod gave laws to be ob- 
served by the people. Did not John give the law of 
pardon to those to whom he gave knowledge of salva- 
tion by the remission of their sins ? It was not his law, 
but God's law given through him. He preached faith, 
repentance, and baptism ; and the baptism he preached 
was for the remission of sins, and he was the first that 
ever did preach it on this earth of whom we know any 
thing, or can know any thing. 

But it is said, " His preaching of repentance and its 
consequents were substantially Old Testament ideas." 
By this we suppose we are to understand that John 
learned what he preached from the Old Testament, 
perhaps the law of Moses. We respectfully suggest 
that John^s ministry was no part of Judaism. WTiy bring 
John into the world by special miracle, of parents who 
were past age, and fill him with the Holy Spirit from 
birth, and send him forth on a special God-appointed mis- 
sion to preach " Old Testament ideas " that any Jewish 
priest would have been abundantly competent to do? 
John was directly sent of God. John i : 6, 33. Mai. 
iii : 1. iv : 5. 

But our reviewer says : " He could not have been pre- 
eminent in this office, certainly, without a hint, at least, 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 199 

of it in the gospels." yes, my brotlier, that is the 
easiest thing imaginable. Don't you see how easy it is 
to break the connection between Elijah in the conversa- 
tion about the vision, and Elijah in the vision right in the 
same chapter without even a hint or intimation about 
it in the whole connection ? E'ot even one hint. 

But our reviewer speaking of John says : " He truly 
added baptism ; but it may be questioned whether this 
was not in too close a connection with the coming Lord, 
to whom he pointed, to distinguish John as a law- 
giver." ^ow we are not very sure we catch the thought 
here. Does he mean that John was in close connection 
with the coming Lord and therefore got what he 
preached from him, hence was not a law-giver himself? 
If this is not the thought in it, we can see no point in it 
at all. If this is the thought, we suggest that John 
was sent before the iord to prepare a people for him 
— to make his paths straight — to bear witness of the 
light that all men through him might believe. 

But so far as my point is concerned, it matters not 
whether we call John a laiv-giver or a teacher. One thing 
is certain : Peter wanted to stay there and take lessons 
from them or be instructed by them, and this called 
forth the exaltation of the Son — hear him. 

Then may not this be the thought ? In the vision 
the three great law givers : Moses, the giver of the Jew- 
ish law ; John, the Elijah that was to come, through 
whom the law of pardon, or remission of sins was given 
in preparing a people for the Lord ; and Jesus, the great 
law-giver under the new and better covenant. Peter 
proposed to make tents and stay there to take lessons 
of, or be instructed by all of them ; but God lets him 
know that the time to hear Moses and John has passed 
— this is my Son, honor him. He it is that was to be 



200 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

raised up like unto Moses, to whom all should hearken 
— " hear himJ^ 

This certainly was the leading thought in the lesson. 
It was certainly not to convince Peter, James and John 
that Jesus was the Son of God, for they knew this be- 
fore. In answer to a question put by Jesus to the dis- 
ciples, six days before the transfiguration, Peter said : 
" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 
Matt, xvi : 16. And Jesus said this had been revealed 
to them by the Father in heaven. When the Father 
made him manifest to Israel at his baptism, he said: 
" This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." 

At the transfiguration he used tlie same words : 
" This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" 
adding, " hear ye him." Why was this supplement made 
to the words used before ? If the announcement had 
been made to confirm his divine character only, surely 
the language used at his baptism would have been quite 
sufficient. Is there not significance in the fact that this 
announcement was not made until Peter proposed to 
make three tents — one each for the three distinguished 
persons seen in the vision ? Does it not seem that Peter 
reasoned something like we suggested before : " Lord, 
how fortunate it is to be here under such favorable cir- 
cumstances ; if it please thee, let us make tents and 
stay here, that we may sit at the feet of these great law- 
givers, or teachers, and take lessons of heavenly wisdom 
from all ot them ? " This proposition called forth the 
wonderful announcement: " This is my beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him." The lan- 
guage used at his baptism would not have conveyed 
the lesson intended here. It would have given assur- 
ance of his divine character, but this the disciples had 
before. Peter had proposed to stay there and take 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 201 

lessons from these three great teachers — Moses, Elijah, 
and Jesus. God answered : " This is my beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him.'' As much 
as to say, Moses and Elijah were persons through whom 
I gave law to the people in time past, and it was right 
to hear them then ; but my Son is the law-giver now — 
hear him. Thus God honored his Son above Moses 
and Elijah, and being above them, it may be assumed 
that he was honored above all through whom God had 
ever spoken to man before. 

Peter says : " For we have not followed cunningly 
devised fables, when we made known unto you the 
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 
eye witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God 
the Father honor and glory, when there came such a 
voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my be- 
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice 
which came from heaven we heard, when we were with 
him in the holy mount.'' 2 Pet. i : 16-18. 

Perhaps there was never a grander exhibition of maj- 
esty, glory, and honor bestowed by the Father on the 
Son than was connected with this transfiguration. His 
raiment was as white as snow, whiter than any fuller on 
earth could make it, and his face shone as the sun in 
the glory of its light at mid-day. ^o human face ever 
glowed in light sublime as that which sat on the face 
of Jesus as it reflected the glory of the ever blessed Fa- 
ther in that transfiguration. A bright cloud overshad- 
owed them. !N'ot a cloud like that which enveloped 
Mount Sinai in fire, which burned in blackness, dark- 
ness, and a tempest, until even Moses feared and quaked 
exceedingly ; but it was a bright cloud, lighted up by the 
glory of God, from the midst of which he proclaimed 
the majesty of his Son, and the supremacy of his law, 



202 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

even over those who were permitted to appear with 
him in this most wonderful transfiguration. This was 
the grandest trio ever seen by mortal eyes on this earth ; 
but God declared the right of his Son to reign above 
the other two — '' hear ye him.'' This is the lesson of 
the transfiguration. What else may be incidentally 
taught in it matters not. This is taught beyond dispute. 
We are not dependent on far-fetched inference, and 
imaginary platitudes, but we have it coming in clear 
and unmistakable utterances fresh from heaven — hear 
ye him. 

Though we were to admit a thousand times that the 
Elijah of the vision was the old Jewish prophet it 
would not hush to silence the voice that came from 
heaven, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased — hear ye him.'' 

IN'ow, are we ready to hear him ? Or are we ready 
to follow him as long as he leads where we want to go .^ 
"We cannot go with him in that way. We must hear 
him all the way of our journey through life. There 
are no collisions when he conducts the train. The 
waves of life's tempestuous ocean are harmless when he 
commands the ship on which we sail. He is our all 
in all. Without him we can do nothing ; with him we 
can do much. Let us hear him. Let us obey every 
command coming from him. This is hearing him — 
less than this is not hearing him. When temptations, 
trials, and troubles come, let us lay our hand in his, and 
trust his gentle care, and all will be well. He never 
forsakes those who confidingly put their trust in him. 

" By and by we shall meet him, 

By and by we shall greet him, 

And with Jesus reign in glory by and by." 

Some suppose that the transfiguration was designed 



' THE TRANSFIGURATION. 203 

to give us an idea of the grandeur and glory that will 
characterize the person of the redeemed in heaven. It 
is not easy to see how persons can believe this, and at 
the same time believe that Elijah of the transfiguration 
was the old Jewish prophet. If their theory be true, 
he was fresh from heaven and his a'p^pearance might have 
been expected to represent the appearance of those in 
that state : and yet there was nothing unusual in his 
appearance at all. If Moses or Elijah was transfigured 
or in any way changed in appearance, the record fails 
to give an account of it ; hence their appearance can 
furnish no idea of the appearance of the immortalized 
in heaven or elsewhere. 

But is this taught in the transfiguration ? If so, the 
apostles who witnessed it failed to find it out. John 
says : " Beloved, now are we the sons of Grod, and it doth 
not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that, 
when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall 
see him as he is." 1 John iii : 2. How could John 
have said this if the transfiguration had shown him what 
we shall be ? If the appearance of J esus in the trans- 
figuration was to be the appearance of the redeemed in 
heaven, it would be quite as easy to describe what that 
appearance will be as to describe the appearance of 
Jesus in the vision ; hence as John did not know what 
likeness the saints would wear in heaven, it is certain 
that no such lesson was taught in the transfiguration 
witnessed by him. This is plain enough. 

In the vanity of poor fallen humanity we can scarcely 
restrain the wish that such a lesson were taught, but 
when we realize our unworthiness, we feel that if ice may 
hut get there, we would be willing to sit in ashes at the 
feet of the dear Savior, clothed in sack cloth for ever. 
Oil, let us get there ! Dear, blessed Savior, may we be 



204 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

among the redeemed, to see and live with thee in glory 
on any terms. Grand and sublime thought — we shall 
see Jesus as he is, and be like him ; be among those 
who have washed their robes and made them white in 
his most precious blood. This will be glory enough 

for us. 

" I am weary, I'm fainting, my day's work is done, 
I am watching, I'm waiting for life's setting sun, 
The shadows are stretching far o'er the lea ; 
Then, oh, let me anchor beyond the dark seal " 



CHAPTER XII. 



"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at 
his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be 
instant in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort 
with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will 
come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but 
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves 
teachers, having itching ears ; and they shall turn away 
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto 
fables." 2Tim. iv: 1-4. 

IS it possible that the time of which Paul spoke has 
come, as he said it would ? Is it true that in this 
boasted age of enlightenment, men will not endure 
sound doctrine ? Do you not often hear men say, " I 
do wish he would quit preaching about baptism. I 
never go to preaching without hearing baptism ! bap- 
tism ! ! baptism ! ! ! I am sick and tired of hearing it ? " 
"Well, my brother, you would best not read the 'New Tes- 
tament, for if you do you might find Jesus saying: "He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." And 
you might find where Peter, in his very first discourse 
under'the great commission, commanded the people to 
" repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ 
for the remission of sins;" and it would be awful if 
you should open his letter to his brethren and find him 
saying "baptism doth also now save us." And you 
might find where Paul says, " as many of you as have 
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Or, 

(205) 



206 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

" buried with him in baptism wherein ye are also risen 
with him." Thus you see, my dear sir, the only safe 
way is to not read the I^ew Testament at all ; for if you 
do, you may blunder right on the nauseating word and 
be kept sick all the time. And you must lecture your 
preachers until they learn better manners, and can quote 
the commission in good modern style : " He that be- 
lieveth, etc., shall be saved;" or, ''he that believes and 
obeys the gospel shall be saved." Many preachers have 
learned this style already, and if you will let your 
preacher know that you cannot endure sound doctrine, 
he may learn to feed you on fables, and tickle your itch- 
ing ears with nice little half-hour speeches exactly 
suited to your taste. 

Preachers are not so dull as to be unable to learn that 
half-hour discourses are much more easily prepared and 
delivered than discourses of an hour or more in length. 
There is not a field hand in all the country that does 
not know that a half hour's work is more easily done 
than an hour's work. There is another advantage, too, 
in half-hour sermons. When a preacher has to preach 
to the same congregation for a number of years, if he 
cuts up what he knows into small sermons, having only 
one or two thoughts in each, the balance in nice filling, 
he will be able to make his stock go much further than 
if he prunes out all surplus drapery and puts in dis- 
courses of an hour or more, filled with solid shot 
throughout. Oh, but he who makes short discourses 
learns to consolidate his thoughts and say more in less 
time. Such has not been our observation. These half- 
hour speeches are made up of flowers designed to tickle 
the itching ear, and, as a rule, have nothing solid in 
them. The man who has something to say is the one 
who consolidates. He knows he can discuss no impor- 



Paul's charge to timothy. 207 

tant subject thoroughly in half au hour, and if he wishes 
to teach the people he selects subjects that have some- 
thing in them worth preaching, and he has no use for 
surplus words, or redundant verbiage just to fill up, or 
embellish his sermons. We have no objection to ele- 
gance of style, but we are more concerned about what is 
said than about elegance of expression. We would rather 
have sound doctrine plainly and forcibly expressed, than 
to have the ears tickled with a straw. 

'^ But we are tired of so much doctrine. I do wish 
you would quit preaching doctrinal sermons and give 
us something pretty." Well, dessert is very nice with 
which to close out a meal, but it does not do very well 
to live on, or even to make one entire meal. The most 
substantial food is very nice when well served up ; so 
the most substantial doctrine may be beautifully told ; 
and viewed from different standpoints, may furnish 
very great variety, too. And what is more touchingly 
sublime than the melting story of the cross ? It is ever 
new, and never grows old. It is food on which the 
hungry soul never cloys — food of which it never gets 
enough. As the poet has well said, so the hungry soul 

ever says, 

" Sing them over again to me, 
Wonderful words of life ; 
Let me more of their beauty see, 
Wonderful words of life. 
Words of life and beauty, 
Teach me faith and duty, 
Beautiful words, wonderful words. 
Wonderful words of life." 

Paul told Timothy to " take heed to thyself and unto 
the doctrine, continue in them ; for in doing this thou 
shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." 1 
Tim. iv : 16. The inference is very clear that if he 



208 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

failed to thus take heed, he would neither save himself 
nor those who heard him. But my brother, will you 
remember that while you understand the gospel, and 
need not that it be preached to you, there was a time 
when you did not understand it ; and had it not been 
preached to you, it is possible you might not have 
understood it yet. Thousands of your neighbors and 
neighbors' children are just in the condition you were 
in before you learned it ; and if they are ever saved 
by it, they will have to learn it as you did. Those who 
heard it before you, were anxious that you should hear 
it, and be saved by it, as they had been. Then as you 
have heard it, and been saved by it, you should never 
grow weary in hearing it proclaimed to others. Should 
you not rather 

" Shout the tidings of salvation, 

To the aged and the young; 

'Till the precious invitation 

Waken ev'ry heart and tongue. 

Send the sound, the earth around, 

From the rising to the setting of the sun ; 

'Till each gathering crowd, shall proclaim aloud, 

The glorious work is done." 

Never was there a more solemn charge clothed in hu- 
man language, or uttered by mortal tongue, than Paul 
gave Timothy in the opening of our text. " I charge 
thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing 
and his kingdom ; preach the word." And why preach 
the word ? Because in so doing he might both save 
himself and those that heard him. " And this is the 
word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1 
Pet. i : 25. Then when the word is preached, the gos- 
pel is preached ; and when the gospel is preached the 
word is preached. We cannot believe in him of whom 
we have not heard ; and we cannot hear without a 



Paul's charge to timothy. 209 

preacher ; " so then faith cometh by hearing, and hear- 
ing by the word of God." Rom. x : 17. " Without 
faith it is impossible to please him." Heb. xi : 6. As 
we cannot please God in any thing without faith ; and as 
faith comes by hearing the word of God, we see the im- 
portance of Paul's charge to Timothy to preach the 
word. If it was so important to preach the word then, 
is it any less important to preach the word now ? Again 
Paul said : " The things that thou hast heard of me 
among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faith- 
ful men, who shall be able to teach others also." 2 Tim. 
ii: 2. This shows that the things taught by Paul to 
Timothy were to be perpetuated through all time ; hence 
it is as important that the word be preached to-day as 
it was when Paul so solemnly charged Timothy to 
preach it. 

Paul says : " I am ready to preach the gospel to you 
that are at Rome also ; for I am not ashamed of the gos- 
pel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salva- 
tion to every one that believeth." Rom. i : 15, 16. So 
then the gospel is the power of God unto salvation! 
Yes the power, not a power, one of the powers, or 
some power, but the power. This implies that there is 
no power beside^ above, or beyond the gospel by which 
God proposes to save man. But ample as may be the 
power which God has placed in the gospel, he proposes 
to save only those who believe it. " He that believeth 
not shall be damned." If he will not believe the gospel 
he cannot be saved by it ; and as it is the power of God 
to salvation, if he is not saved by it, he cannot be saved 
at all, and will be lost without remedy. 

In the parable of the sower we learn that if any 
casualty happened to the seed there was no crop pro- 
duced. We learn also that the sower sowed the w^ord, 
14 



210 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

\ 

and that the word was the seed of the kingdom. And 
as the farmer can have no crop without seed are sown, so 
there can be no spiritual crop without the word, or seed 
of the kingdom in the hearts of men ; hence the neces- 
sity of ^preaching the word. I^o seed, no crop — no word 
preached, no Christians made. One result is just as cer- 
tain as the other. 

In no land on which the sun shines to-daj, can a 
Christian be found where the word of God has not 
gone. Where the rays of gospel light have never 
shone, there ignorance and superstition cover the earth, 
and gross spiritual darkness hangs like a black pall of ' 
night over the people. Were it possible to banish the 
Avord of Grod, and every recollection of every thing 
learned from it, from this fair land of ours, as complete 
spiritual darkness would envelop our country as physi- 
cal darkness would cover the earth were the sun, our 
only source of physical light, blown out of existence, as 
we extinguish a candle or a lamp. Well hath David 
said : " Thy testimonies are wonderful ; therefore doth 
my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth 
light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." Ps. 
cxix : 129, 130. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 
and a light unto my path." verse 105. 

Jesus said : "As long as I am in the world, I am the 
light of the world." John ix : 5. Again : "I am the 
light of the world ; he that followeth me shall not walk 
in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John viii : ' 
12. If Jesus is the light of the world, where he is not 
preached there is no light. He that followed him had 
the light of life. But how can we follow him ? Thy 
word is a lamp to my feet, and a light unto my path. 

But he said he was the light of the world as long as he 
was in the world. Yes, and while in the world he pre- 



PAUL'S CHARGE TO TIMOTHY. 211 

pared a light to shine after he left it. Addressing his dis- 
ciples he said : " Ye are the light of the world." Matt. 
V : 14. In his prayer to his Father he said : " 1 have 
given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and 
they have received them." John xvii : 8. ^•:N'either 
pray I for these alone, hut for them also which shall he- 
lieve on me through their word." verse 20. Thus we 
see that Jesus gave the words he received of his Father, 
to the apostles, and he prayed for those who helieved on 
him through their words. On one occasion when many 
of the disciples had left the Master, he said to the 
twelve : " Will ye also go away ? Then Simon Peter 
answered him, Lord to whom shall we go ? Thou hast 
the words of eternal life." John vi : 67, 68. 

The words that Jesus had, were the words of eternal 
life. He received them of his Father, and gave them to 
his apostles, and commissioned them to preach these 
words of eternal life to every creature in all the world. 
Thus Jesus was the light of the world, and the disci- 
ples were the light of the world as they proclaimed the 
words of eternal life to the world. Before leaving the 
world, Jesus perfected every thing, and charged the apos- 
tles to preach the word; and Paul charged Timothy to 
preach the word, and commit it to faithful men who 
might be able to teach others ; and so the charge comes 
to us, preach the word, and this is the word which by the 
gospel is preached unto you. 

But we are told that no country has ever been found 
where the people did not worship something ; and 
hence no country can be found where the Holy Spirit 
has not taught the people the necessity of worship. 
Without stopping, for the present, to deny that the idea 
of worship exists every where, let us ask ; if the Holy 
Spirit taught them the necessity of worship why did it 



212 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

fail to teach them lohat to worship, and how to worship 
him ? Why did the Holy Spirit teach theni the neces- 
sity or duty of worship and leave them in idolatry to wor- 
ship any and every thing of which their imagination 
could conceive? This is not like the Holy Spirit of 
which we read in the i^ew Testament. Here we find 
that the comforter was to guide the taught into all truth ; 
but there the heathens were only taught the duty of 
worshiping without a knowledge of whom to worship or 
how to worship him. Is ow I respectfully suggest that 
the Holy Spirit does no such imperfect icork as this. It is 
all a myth. There is not a word of truth in it. No word 
of God — no sjnritual light, is just as certain as it is that 
the farmer can have no crop where he sows no seed. If 
the Holy Spirit operates on the heart of men and 
women ivithout the word, where the word is in every 
house, why does it not make Christians in heathen lands 
where the word has never gone ? And if the Holy 
Spirit does so operate without the word here, or there ; 
then of what use is the word ? Why shall we worry 
ourselves to preach it where it is, or send it where it is 
not, if men and women may he converted without 
it as well as with it ? 

But is there not a more rational way of accounting 
for a disposition in heathen lands to worship something, 
than by supposing that the Holy Spirit taught them the 
necessity of worship, and then left them without teach- 
ing them hoiD, and lohat to worship ? Paul says . " Have 
they not all heard? Yes verily, their sound went into 
all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the 
world." Rom. x : 18. And again : " If ye continue 
in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved 
away from the hope of the gospel, which was preached 
to every creature under heaven." Col. i: 23. Here we 



PAUL'S CHARGE TO TIMOTHY. 213 

learn that there was a time when all nations had the 
gospel ; and hence not only knew the necessity of wor- 
ship, but they knew the true God, and how to worship 
him according to the gospel. 

Why, then, are they now without a knowledge of Grod 
and the true worship ? " Because that, when they knew 
God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thank- 
ful ; but became vain in their imaginations, and their 
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be 
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the 
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corrupti- 
ble man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creep- 
ing things." Eom. i : 21-23. 

Here we find that when they knew God, they glorified 
him not as God, but voluntarily went into idolatry, wor- 
shiping images of men, birds, and beasts. In the course 
of ages they forgot God and the true worship. Those 
who had the knowledge of God, all ceased to worship 
him in some countries; and their children and grand 
children, seeing nothing but image worship, naturally 
enough fell into that kind of worship ; and hence the 
idea of their worship came, not from the Holy Spirit, 
but from the tradition of the fathers, first derived from 
the true worship, then corrupted as we have seen, and 
perpetuated through tradition. David says : '' The 
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that 
forget God." Ps. ix : 17. Here David speaks of na- 
tions forgetting God ; and they could not forget that 
which they never knew. Hence only such nations as 
once had a knowledge of God, could forget him. Thus 
we account for a disposition to worship among the 
heathens. 

The word of the Lord, or gospel of Jesus Christ, is 
able to do for man every thing necessary to his conver- 



214 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

sion, sanctilication, and final happiness that he can de- 
sire. Does the sinner need conversion ? " The law of 
the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. xix : 7. 
The soul is that which needs conversion; and the law of 
the Lord is perfect in the performance of this very 
work. That which is loerfect cannot be improved. If 
the law of the Lord needs any outside touch, or addi- 
tional influence to apply it, or make it eifective then it 
is not perfect. David said it was ^^er/^c^, and not only 
perfect, but perfect in this matter of converting the 
soul. In this work then, it needs no supplement — none 
whatever. 

If the sinner needs faith, the word of the Lord tells 
him what it is, how it comes, and what it does. If he 
has not repented, it tells him to repent, and if he fails to 
repent, he will surely perish. If he has not confessed his 
faith in Christ, from the word of the Lord he can learn 
what to confess, and how to confess it. If he has not 
been baptized, the word of the Lord tells him how he 
must be baptized, and what he must be baptized tor. 
If he has arisen to walk in the newness of life, the word 
of the Lord meets his wants in all the relations and con- 
ditions of life, and thoroughly furnishes him to every 
good work. 

If he has a hard and unfeeling heart : " Is not my 
word like as a fire ? saith the Lord ; and like as a ham- 
mer that breaketh the rock in pieces." Jer. xxiii : 29. 
As the Jlre and the hammer break the hardest rock in 
pieces, so will the word of the Lord mellow, subdue, and 
subjugate the hardest heart that listens to its teaching ; 
and he who will not hear, cannot believe, and therefore 
cannot be saved. 

Do you want sanctification ? Jesus prayed to his Father 
for the sanctification of liis disciples ; and how did he 



Paul's charge to timothy. 215 

pray tliat it be done ? " Sanctify them through thy 
truth ; thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into 
the world, even so have I sent them into the world ; and 
for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might 
be sanctified through the truth." John xvii : 17-19. 
The word was the truth through which he expected the 
Father to sanctify his discijjles. Paul says: ''Hus- 
bands love your wives even as Christ also loved the 
church, and gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify 
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." 
Eph. V : 25, 26. Sanctification and cleansing are here 
connected, and are accomplished as taught by the word. 
Jesus said : " Ye are clean through the word which I 
have spoken unto you." John xv : 3. Then both sanc- 
tification and cleansing are to be accomplished by the 
word, and this simply means as taught in or by the 
word. Thus we see how the gospel saves men. 

If you want salvation Jesus tells you in the commis- 
sion how to be saved ; and the angel told Cornelius to 
" send for Simon whose surname is Peter, who shall tell 
thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be 
saved." Actsxi : 13, 14. " Men and brethren, children 
of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you 
feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent." 
Acts xiii : 26. And James exhorts his brethren to " re- 
ceive with meekness the engrafted word which is able 
to save your souls." Jas. i : 21. Other passages might 
be quoted, but these are enough to show that the way 
of salvation is clearly revealed in the word of the 
Lord, and by its teaching we must be saved, if saved 
at all. 

If you are hungering for the grace of God, " I com- 
mend 3'ou to God and to the loord of his grace, which is 
able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance 



216 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

among all tbem which are sanctified.'* Acts xx : 32. 

If you want to be reconciled to God, you must re- 
member that you are the party to be reconciled. " And 
all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself 
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of re- 
conciliation : to wit, that God was in Christ, reconcil- 
ing the world unto himself, not imputing their trespass- 
es unto them ; and hath committed unto us the word of 
reconciliation." 2 Cor. v : 18, 19. There is no use of 
begging God to be reconciled to you. The word of re- 
conciliation was given to the apostles, and when you will 
comply with the terms of reconciliation you will be 
reconciled. 

If you would make good soldiers of the cross you 
must " put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be 
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we 
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princi- 
palities, against powers, against the rulers of the dark- 
ness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high 
places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of 
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, 
and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having 
your loins girt about with truth, and having on the 
breastplate of righteousness ; and your feet shod with 
the preparation of the gospel of peace ; Above all, 
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to 
qvuench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the 
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which 
is the word of God." Eph. vi : 11-17. 

By close observation you will find that every part of 
this armor of God is provided in his word ; and the 
sword of the Spirit with which the Christian soldier is 
to fight the battles of the Lord, is the ivord of God itself. 
Please notice that while this is the sword of the Spirit, 



Paul's charge to timothy. ^ 217 

the Christian soldier is the party that is to use it. You 
need not wait for the Spirit to use it, hut use it yourself. 
My Christian brother, are you clad in God's armor ? 
and are you using the sword of the Spirit in fighting the 
battles of the Lord ? If not, are you doing your duty in 
the cause of the Master ? If you cannot preach the 
word yourself, can you not support some one else who 
can ? How do you expect to pass roll-call in the great 
day, having done nothing ? The most worthless soldier 
of whom we can conceive is the mere hanger-on, who 
does nothing but eat the rations of those who do the 
fighting. Better that such were in the camp of the 
enemy subsisting on his commissaries, than be doing 
nothing for the Master but consume his substance. Go 
over and draw rations from the stores of the devil, and 
leave your rations for your brethren, who are doing 
service for the Lord. You will weaken the enemy that 
much and do less harm at home. 

" According as his divine power hath given unto us 
all things that pertain unto life and godliness through 
the [revealed] knowledge of him that hath called us to 
glory and virtue." 2 Pet. i : 3. God's revealed knowledge 
constitutes his word, in which are given to us all things 
that pertain to life and godliness. Then what more can 
we ask or desire ? ItTot some things, but all things which 
pertain to life and godliness are given to us through 
God's revelation, or word. Surely this is enough. 

But Timothy was not only to preach the word to the 
sinner, but he was to reprove the wayward, rebuke the 
persistently rebellious, and exhort the negligent. It is 
not enough to become Christians, but we must live so that 
our natures will be so transformed as to be assimilated 
to the pure and holy with whom we are to associate in 
heaven. The church is a school in which we are to be 



218 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

trained and fitted for association with God, angels, and 
purified spirits in a higher state of existence than this. 
Many seem to be going through this life as though 
they believed it to be the end of existence. They seem 
to dream of nothing beyond the grave ; and hence they 
seek to make the most of this life, which its opportuni- 
ties afi'ord, in order to promote carnal pleasures only. 

" This world can never give, 
The bliss for which we sigh ; 
' Tis not the whole of life to live, 
Nor all of death to die. 
Beyond this vale of tears, 
There is a life above ; 
Unmeasured by the flight of years, 
And all that life is love." 

The religion of the Bible was intended to prune otf 
the excrescences of our nature, and develop those God- 
like attributes that make us partakers of the divine na- 
ture, so that we shall be prepared to enjoy heaven when 
we get there. If a man, fresh from the haunts of wick- 
edness, be placed in the company of the pure and holy 
of earth, where their habits of thought and subjects of 
conversation are wholly unlike those with whom he has 
been accustomed to associate, he cannot be happy, be- 
cause he cannot partake of their spirit, nor enter into 
their sources of enjoyment ; hence he will withdraw at 
the earliest practicable moment, and seek company con- 
genial to his feelings and habits of life. S'o if it were 
possible to transfer the wicked from earth to heaven, 
with all his depraved appetites and passions clinging 
to him, it would be a place of misery, rather than a 
place of happiness to him. His nature is not assimi- 
lated to the nature of those with whom he would have 
to associate, and he could not be happy. To enjoy 
heaven, then, we must be made partakers of the divine 



Paul's charge to timothy. 219 

nature, like the nature of those with whom we must as- 
sociate when we get there. 

In the revealed knowledge of God " are given unto 
us exceeding great and precious promises ; that by these 
ye might be partakers of the divine nature." 2 Pet. i: 
4. Who can contemplate the exceeding great and pre- 
cious promises made by our Father in his ever blessed 
word without partaking of the nature of him who made 
the promises ? We are promised remission of sins and 
the gift of the Holy Spirit in obedience to the gospel. 
He has promised to be with us in our temptations and 
trials, and that he will not allow us to be tempted beyond 
our ability to bear ; but in every trial he will make a 
way for our escape, and bring us off more than con- 
querors through him that loved us and gave himself for 
us. He has promised to go with us through the dark 
valley and shadow of death ; and that he will not forget 
us in the tomb, but will bring us up to live again, if 
worthy, in the glorified image of his Son. He has 
promised that if we are faithful and do his command- 
ments, we shall at last enter through the gates into the 
city, where God is, where Jesus is, where angels are, 
and where the spirits of just men made perfect will ever 
be, and that we shall there be permitted to bask in the 
sunny smiles of his love for ever and ever, ^or is this 
all : he has promised that we shall there be restored to 
the tree of life from which our parents were driven ; 
and that we shall be permitted to pluck and eat of its life- 
giving fruit, beyond the reach of temptation, disease and 
death ; hat we shall there be permitted to drink of 
the stream of life that gurgles from beneath the throne, 
of which he that drinks shall thirst no more ; and 
that there we shall, with tongues immortal, engage in 
singing a new song to God and to the Lamb, with an- 



220 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

gels around the eternal throne, in sweeter strains than 

mortal tongues have ever made. Well hath the poet 

said : 

"The Bible reveals a glorious land, 
Where angels and purified spirits dwell, 
Where pleasures ne'er end, at God's right hand, 
And anthems of praises for ever swell. 
Outgushing beneath the throne of God, 
And of the blest Lamb at his right hand, 
Thence runneth the crystal stream of life, 
A fountain of joy in that glorious land. 
In th' midst of the street on either side. 
The tree of life, arching the way, o'ershades, 
With health-giving foliage far and wide, 
No sickness this glorious land invades. 
Twelve manner of fruits hang pendent there, 
And they who partake shall never die : 
With Jesus they dwell, and ever share 
The joys of that glorious land on high." 



CHAPTER XIII. 



A BEASON FOR THE CHRISTIAN S HOPE. 

" But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be 
ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh 
you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness 
and fear." IPet. iii: 15. 

ALL Christians are expected to have a hope, and 
they should be able to give a reason for it when 
asked to do so. They are not expected to proclaim it 
on the house top and from the street corners as a thing 
of which to boast ; but when respectfully asked for it, 
they are expected to be able to give a reason for the 
hope that is in them, in that spirit of humility that 
should ever characterize the meek and humble follow- 
ers of the Lord. 

It is true they are admonished to " earnestly contend 
for the faith which was once delivered to the saints ;" 
(Jude 3.) but there is a time, place, and manner of doing 
this, so as to have a salutary influence upon those to 
whom the reason is given ; and if not given in this way 
and under proper circumstances, our reason may do 
more harm than good, however scriptural the matter of 
it may be. Arrogant street-corner disputations on re- 
ligious subjects, are always of doubtful propriety, to say 
the least of them. But while this is true, it is also true 
that we are to be always ready to give a reason for the 
hope within us, when asked for it. And please note the 
fact that we are not only to be ready, but we are to be 
alioays ready to give every man — yes, not some men, but 

(221) 



222 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

every man that asks us. To do tliis requires intelligence, 
and more thought than is sometimes given to this very 
important subject. We think it likely that the word 
hope is about as badly abused by unscriptural usage as 
any word in the Bible. If a man be asked whether or 
not he is a Christian, he is likely to answer, ^' I hope I 
am." Have you got religion ? '^ I hoj)e I have." Such 
expressions are very often heard ; but they betray an 
inexcusable ignorance of Bible teaching on the whole 
subject. And this ignorance is frequently seen as 
plainly in the one who asks the question, as in those 
who answer it. 

A man cannot hope he has any thing, or that he is 
any thing. Hope always looks ahead to something fut- 
ure. It includes both desire and expectation. We cannot 
hope for any thing unless we both desire and expect that 
thing. The apostle says . " For we are saved by hope ; 
but hope that is seen is not hope ; for what a man 
seeth why doth he yet hope for? but if we hope for 
that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." 
Eom. viii : 24, 25. 

Desire looks ahead, so does expectation. We do not 
either desire or expect that which we already have. We 
must both desire and expect a thing before we can hope 
for it. We all expect to die, but we do not hope to die, 
because we do not desire to die. Most persons cling to 
life as long as they can. While we may hope to go to 
heaven when we die, yet we do not hope to die at all ; 
but would linger on the shores of time, in vigorous 
manhood, forever if we could. 

All good men desire the salvation and final happiness 
of all men ; but we do not hope for the salvation of all 
men, because we do not expect it. Believing the Bible, 
we cannot expect it ; theretore, however much we may 



A REASON FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE. 223 

desire it, we cannot hope for it. Expectation is absent, 
and without it there cannot he hope. 

While the elements of hope (desire and expectation) 
are ever the same, the objects of hope may he very dif- 
ferent. The sick may hope for health. The poor may 
hope for wealth. The obscure may hope for fame. 
Even the wicked may hope to be saved ; for they think 
they will quit their wickedness after awhile, and as they 
desire salvation they hope to be saved at last. Job 
said : '' What is the hope of the hypocrite when God 
taketh away his soul." Job xxvii : 8. Solomon says : 
" When a wicked man dieth his expectation shall per- 
ish ; and the hope of unjust men perisheth." Prov. xi : 
7. But no one of these is the hope for which the Chris- 
tian is to give a reason. 

Our text was addressed to such as had been begotten 
again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible 
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in 
heaven for them. 1 Pet. i : 3, 4. Their hopes were 
not that they were Christians — not that they had religion^ 
but that they should finally come to the enjoyment of 
an eternal inheritance which was reserved in heaven for 
them. This they both expected and desired, and hence it 
was truly said they hoped for it. This is plain enough. 

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said : " And 
we desire that every one of you do show the same dili- 
gence to the full assurance of hope unto the end ; that 
ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through 
faith and patience inherit the promises. ^ * * That 
by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for 
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who 
have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before 
us : which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both 



224 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

sure and steadfast, and whicli entereth into that within 
the veil." Heb. vi : 11-19. 

Amid our labors, toils, trials, temptations, vexations, 
disappointments and persecutions, our hope anchors the 
soul securely in heaven, v^here Jesus, our forerunner, 
has gone to prepare a home for us " if we hold fast the 
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto 
the end." 

This is the Christian's hope for which he should al- 
ways be ready to give a reason in meekness and fear, 
to every man who respectfully asks him for such a 
reason. My brother have you this hope ? and are you 
always ready to give a satisfactory reason for it ? 

But in order to give a reason for the Christian's hope 
within him with meekness and fear, a man must, him- 
self, be a Christian ; and we have seen that it is a mis- 
taken use of terms to say " he hopes he is a Christian ; " 
for he cannot hope for that which he has, or is ; but 
if he hopes for that which he has not, then he can with 
patience wait for it. If he is a Christian he cannot hope 
to be one, for he is one ; and there can be no hoping 
for what he is ; nor can he hope for that which he al- 
ready has. If he is a Christian, he' knows it, and there 
is no place for hope in that. He cannot expect to be 
what he already is, and he must both expect and desire 
that for which he hopes, otherwise he cannot hope at 
all ; therefore he cannot hope he is a Christian. 

He is a Christian or he is not. If he is a Christian, 
he cannot hope he is one ; and if he is not a Christian, 
he cannot have the Christian's hope within him, and 
cannot give a reason for a hope within him that is not 
in him. If he is a Christian, he may hope to remain 
one, for he may both expect and desire to hold out 
faithful to the end, " laying up in store for himself a 



A REASON FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE. 225 

good foundation against the time to come, that he may 
lay hold on eternal life." 1 Tim. vi : 19. 

But we have said that if a man is a Christian, he 
knows it — how does he know it? This question has 
been so thoroughly examined in other parts of our 
work that it need not detain us long here. 

To be a Christian we must be in Christ, Paul says : 
" Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creat- 
ure ; old things are passed away ; behold, all things are 
become new." 2 Cor. v : 17. As any one in Christ is 
a new creature, it follows that those out of Christ are 
not new creatures. Old things have not all passed away 
to them ; nor have all things to them become new. 

Once more : ^* There is, therefore, now no condemna- 
tion to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not 
after the flesh but after the Spirit ; for the law of the 
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from 
the law of sin and death." E.om. viii : 1, 2. The lan- 
guage, " there is no condemnation to them who are in 
Christ Jesus," implies that there is condemnation to such 
as are not in Christ Jesus. If a man is free from con- 
demnation, he is a pardoned man — a saved man — a jus- 
tified man — a Christian. He does not desire^ or expect, 
or hope to be free from condemnation, for there is no con- 
demnation to such a man. His hopes reach ahead to 
things tuture. They never fasten upon old things that 
have passed away. 

Then how do we get into Christ ? "We will let Paul 
answer : " Or, are ye ignorant that all we who were 
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? 
We were buried therefore with him through baptism into 
death ; that like as Christ was raised from the dead 
through the glory of the Father, so we also might 
w alk in newness of life." Rom. vi : 3, 4. [New Version."] 
15 



226 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Then when the Romans were baptized they were bap- 
tized into Jesus Christ. Their baptism put them into 
Jesus Christ, and into his death, that is, into the bene- 
fits of his death ; " in whom we have redemption 
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Col. 
i : 14. " Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye 
are risen with him through the faith of the operation 
of Grod, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, 
being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of 
your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, hav- 
ing forgiven you all trespasses." Col. ii : 12^ 13. 

They were baptized into Christ, and when raised 
from their burial with him in baptism they had redemp- 
tion through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. 
They were quickened together with him, and all their 
trespasses were forgiven. They were new creatures in 
him, and had the Christian's hope, for which they were 
always ready to give a reason to every man that asked 
them for it. Being in Christ, they were new creatures, 
and could walk in newness of life, for indeed it was a 
new life to them. Old things had passed away. Their 
old life was done. They had put off the old man with 
his deeds, and had put on the new man which was re- 
newed in righteousness ; hence to such all things had 
become new. If you want to be a Christian, and have 
the Christian's hope, would it not be safe to do as these 
did who were guided by inspired teachers ? ' 

But how did the G-alatians get into Christ ? " For 
ye are all the children of Grod by faith in Christ Jesus." 
How were they the children of God by faith ? '' For 
as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have 
put on Christ." Then the Galatians got into Christ 
the same way the Romans did. They were baptized 
into Christ, and so put him on. If you want all the 



227 

blessings of the gospel, they are in Christ; hence when 
Jou are in him, you are where every thing is. You 
cannot be at a loss to know how to enter into, or put 
on Christ. Paul wrote to the Romans, Galatians, and 
Colossians as to what they had done ; and he 
wrote of it as though it was right. If it was right 
then, is it not right yet? If it saved them, will it not 
save you, if you do as they did under the same law ? 
If what they did put them into Christ, would it not put 
you in, if you were to submit to it just as they did ? If 
not, why not ? Is there any other way of entering him 
and being made new creatures ? If so, what is it ? 

But the baptism of the Galatians put them where 
" there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond 
nor free, there is neither male nor female ; for ye are all 
one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye 
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." 
Gal. iii : 28, 29. 

Thus we see how the Galatians became children of 
God by faith. They acted out their faith — perfected it 
by obedience. Christ said in the commission : " He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." The 
Galatians believed, hence had faith ; and when they 
were baptized into Christ, they were baptized into his 
teaching ; and hence put him on, where there was no 
distinction of classes, but perfect equality among all. 
By being baptized into Christ, and putting him on, 
they became his, and Paul says : " If ye be Christ's, 
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the 
promise." What promise ? Certainly the promise 
which God made to Abraham concerning Christ, in 
whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed. 
Is this plain enough ? 

Now, you are in Christ, or you are not. If you are 



228 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

in Christ you know it, and know how^ and when you 
entered him. There is no place for hope in that part 
of it. You can likely explain it, and tell all about how 
you put on Christ. But the hope that is in you goes 
not backward to that matter, but it goes within the 
heavenly city. For this hope you can give a reason, if 
you have the hope. 

Though your entrance into Christ, or becoming a 
Christian, may be the foundation of your hope, and must 
be understood before you can have the hope, yet it is not 
the hope that the Christian has, and for which he is at all 
times to be ready to give a reason. The hope is one 
thing and the reason for it quite another thing. Hope 
rests upon faith in, and obedience to God. These two 
pillars must rest under and support our hope through 
life ; and if at any time one or both of them be with- 
drawn, the hope that rested upon them will be de- 
stroyed. 

We have stated already that in the commission un- 
der which the apostles were to operate in converting 
the nations to God, Jesus said : " He that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved." Mark xvi : 16. If you 
have believed the gospel, you know it. If you have be- 
lieved in Christ through the gospel, you know it. And 
if, believing, you were baptized, you know it; unless 
you have been fearfully deceived by the teaching of 
men. And if you have believed and been baptized, you 
know you are saved ; for Jesus said, in terms too plain 
to be misunderstood, that he that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved. !N'ow then, if asked whether or 
not you are a Christian, will you reply " I hope I am ? " 
lN"o sir, where is any room for hope in this process ? 
You are saved, or you are not saved ; and you know on 
which side of the line to place yourself. If you have 



A REASON FOR THE CHRISTIANAS HOPE. 229 

believed and been baptized, you know you are saved ; 
and if you have believed, but have not been baptized, 
you know equally well that you are not saved according 
to the terms of this commission. 

There is no middle ground about it. You are saved 
or not saved, and you know very well which. If you 
are saved, you have the Christian's hope. Tou do not 
hope you are a Christian, for this you know, if you 
have obeyed the gospel. There is no room to hope 
about that. But if you have obeyed from the heart that 
form of doctrine which was delivered you, and been 
made free from sin, then as a Christian, you hope to 
persevere until death, and be saved in heaven at last. 
This is the Christian's hope. PauV says : "If in this 
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most 
miserable." 1 Cor. xv : 19. Then the Christian's 
hope reaches beyond this life, in the direction of the 
future state. 

" Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have 
left all and have followed thee. And Jesus answered 
and said : verily I say unto you. There is no man that 
hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or 
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and 
the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in 
this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and moth- 
ers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in 
the world to come eternal life." Mark x : 28-30. 

!N"ow we cannot say we hope for the persecutions here 
promised, for we scarcely desire them ; and as desire is 
an indispensable element of hope, we cannot hope with- 
out it. But we can hope for eternal life in the world to 
come. Paul says : " But now being made free from sin, 
and become servants to G-od, ye have your fruit unto 
holiness, and the end everlasting life ; for the wages of 



230 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life through 
Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi : 22, 23. 

There is no looking backward to the time of pardon 
in the Christian's hope. Though based on pardon, it 
looks to eternal life. 

For this eternal life the Christian hopes. Paul clearly 
intimated as much in his letter to Titus. He says : 
" Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowl- 
edging of the truth which is after godliness ; in hope 
of eternal life." Titus i : 1, 2. 

And again : " For the grace of God that bringeth 
salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that, 
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live 
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world ; 
looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing 
of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ ; who gave 
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, 
and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
good works." Titus ii : 11-14. And once more : 
" That being justified by his grace, we should be made 
heirs, according to the hope of eternal life." Tit. iii : 7. 

These Scriptures teach, very clearly, that eternal life 
is the great object of the Christian's hope. He may 
hope for other things, but they are all subordinate to, 
and centered in eternal life at last. And we are taught 
how to live that we may confidently look for a realiza- 
tion of that blessed hope. Being Christians, if we live 
according to the laws laid down, there need be no fears 
as to what the end will be. If we deny ourselves of all 
things wrong, and cultivate only that which is good, 
the end will be eternal life in heaven. 

Jesus says : " Ye shall know them by their fruits." 
Matt, vii : 16. '' I am the vine, ye are the branches. 



A KEASON FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE. 231 

He that abideth. in me, and I in him, the same bringeth 
forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing/' 
John XV : 5. 

Here is the rule by which we may know others, and 
we see not why we may not apply it to ourselves. 
Paul classifies the fruit for us that we may know the 
good from the bad fruit. " I^ow the works of the flesh 
are manifest, which are these : Adultery, fornication, 
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, 
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such 
like." Are you doing these things? Is this the kind 
of fruit you are bearing ? If so, here is what he says 
of you : " Of the which I forewarn you, even as I did 
forewarn you, that they which practice such things shall 
not inherit the kingdom of God." [Bevision.'] This is 
plain enough ; no comment is needed to simplify it. Then 
he gives the good fruit : " But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, 
faith, meekness, temperance : against such there is no 
•law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh 
with the aff'ections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let 
us also walk in the Spirit." Gal. v : 19-25. Being in 
Christ, are you bearing this fruit ? If so, you know it, 
and if not, you know it. We have already found Paul 
saying that the servant of God has his fruit unto holi- 
ness and the end everlasting life. If you are a child of 
God, bringing this fruit, you have good reason to hope 
for eternal life " in the sweet fields of Eden where the 
tree of life is blooming." 

HOW DOES HOPE COME ? 

On this division of our subject we must be brief — in- 
deed there is no need that we should be otherwise than 



232 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

brief. " For whatsoever things were written aforetime 
were written for our learning, that we through patience 
and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Rom. 
XV : 4. The Scriptures were written for our learning, 
but how much of the Scriptures will he learn who never 
studies them ? By patient study of the Scriptures we 
learn what God has done for us, and what he proposes to 
do for us, and what he requires of us in order that we 
may enjoy the blessings he has promised us. When 
we learn what he requires of us, it is quite easy to de- 
cide for ourselves whether we are doing it or not. And 
if we are doing what he requires us to do, surely we 
may most confidently hope to. enjoy what he has prom- 
ised us. " We give thanks to God and the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we 
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love 
which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which 
is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in 
the word of the truth of the gospel." Col. i : 3-5. " If 
ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be 
not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye 
have heard, and which was preached to every creature 
which is under heaven." Col. i : 23. 

These Scriptures clearly show that the object of the 
Christian's hope is laid up for him in heaven, that is, 
the realization of things hoped for is future — not past, 
and that those having the hope, learned of the things 
for which they hope through the gospel. When we 
have a firm faith in Jesus Christ through the gospel, 
and know that we have done, and are still doing, that 
which is required of us in the gospel, we have a good 
reason to hope to enjoy that which is promised us 
in the gospel. Thus we see that our hope comes 
through, and is predicated upon the gospel ; and hence 



A REASON FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE. 233 

we see that lie who would be always ready to give a 
reason, when asked, for the hope that is in him must 
study the gospel, or a scriptural and intelligent reason 
for his hope he cannot give. 

Finally, these Scriptures teach that while we may 
have a well-grounded hope of heaven, and be able to 
give a good reason for it, still we may forfeit our inher- 
itance and blast our hopes. We have no room to dis- 
cuss this thought here, but only call attention to the 
fact that it is quite apparent in the Scriptures already 
quoted. " And you, that were some time alienated and 
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath 
he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to 
present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in 
his sight ; if ye continue in the faith grounded and set- 
tled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, 
which ye have heard." Col. i : 21-23. 

Here were persons once alienated by wicked works, as 
all other sinners are, who had become reconciled with a 
purpose of presentation to the Father, holy, unblameable, 
and unreproveable in his sight, if they continued in the 
faith, and were not moved away from the hope of the 
gospel. Yes, but what if they do not continue in the 
faith, and are moved away from the hope of the gospel ? 
It would be folly to talk about continuing in the faith if 
not in the faith. This could not be ; and it would be ab- 
surd to talk of being moved away from the hope of the 
gospel, if they did not have the hope of the gospel. And 
it would be equally absurd to talk of making their pre- 
sentation to the Father contingent on their continuing in 
the faith, if they could not depart from it. And it 
would be ridiculous to make their presentation to the 
Father contingent on not being moved away from the 
hope of the gospel, if they could not be moved away 



234 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

from it. But Christ was a son over his own house ; 
" whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence 
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." Heb. 
iii : 6. But if we do not hold fast, firm, unto the end 
what then ? " Let us hold fast the profession of our 
faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised." 
Heb. X : 23. 

Blessed thought— Ag is faithful that promised. Men 
may prove unfaithful, and their promises may fail. They 
may deceive and disappoint us, but he who has prom- 
ised to save the obedient believer is faithful, and cannot 
disappoint those who trust in him to the end. 

^' Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious ap- 
pearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." 
Yes, that blessed hope ! How could we live without it ? 
Beset with trials, vexations, disappointments, and sore 
persecutions at every step, our spirits would sink within 
us were it not for the glorious hope that our troubles will 
end in an eternity of bliss by and by. " For our light 
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us 
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while 
we look not at the things which are seen, but at the 
things which are not seen, for the things which are seen 
are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eter- 
nal." 2 Cor. iv : 17, 18. These are the things for which 
we hope — not temporal, but eternal. We can scarcely see 
how Paul could call such affliction as he endured light 
affliction. But they were of short duration, while the 
weight of glory, wrought out by them, was eternal. 
Says he: " We know, that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a 
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 
Cor. V : 1. This enabled him to look with indifference, 
even, on the dissolution of the body, in the hope of being 



A REASON FOR THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE. 235 

clothed in another one not made with hands, which 
would last while the eternal years of God should roll 
their endless cy cles on. Blessed hope ! glorious hope ! Who 
could weather the storms incident to a pilgrimage 
through this life without such a hope f 

Who of us could bear patiently Paul's afflictions now 
and think them light ? ^' In stripes above measure, 
in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews 
fiA^e times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was 
I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suf- 
fered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the 
deep; in journey ings often, in perils of waters, in perils 
of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils 
by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the 
wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false 
brethren. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings 
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold 
and nakedness." 2 Cor. xi : 23-27. And yet in this same 
letter he speaks of our light affliction ! Surely it took a 
faith that never knew a doubt, and a hope that knew no 
fear to rise above such furiously mad cyclones of perse- 
cution as this. His hope was anchored firmly within 
the vail and sustained him to the end. He says : " I 
am now ready to be offered, and the time of my depart- 
ure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have 
finished my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth 
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which 
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ; 
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love 
his appearing." 2 Tim. iv : 6-8. 

Here is a grand summing up of his life — the ground 
of his hope, and the crown for v)hich he hoped, and there 
was consolation enough in it to compensate for all the 
suffering he had borne. He might well call the mo- 



236 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

mentary affliction light compared with an eternity of 
bliss like this. Even death itself has no terrors for him 
who had such a hope as he had. 

His hope rested upon his knowledge of what awaited 
him in the future. '• For we know that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a 
building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal 
in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desir- 
ing to be clothed upon with our house which is from 
heaven ; if so be that being clothed we shall not be 
found naked." 2 Cor. v : 1-3. His hope robbed death 
of its sting, and this grand victory may be ours, if we 
live as he did. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 

" Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for 
Israel is, that they might be saved ; for I bear them rec- 
ord that they have a zeal of God, but not according to 
knowledge ; for they, being ignorant of God's righteous- 
ness, and going about to establish their own righteous- 
ness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteous- 
ness of God." Rom. x: 1-3. 

ZEAL is defined : " Energetic pursuit ; passionate 
ardor; fervent earnestness." It is commendable 
when properly directed, but misguided zeal becomes fa- 
naticism. ISTo one knew better how to sympathize with 
the religious intolerance of the Jews than did Paul. 
He had been the very impersonation of religious mad- 
ness. He verily thought he ought to do many things 
contrary to the name of Jesus, and he did them. He 
gave his voice against those put to death for their de- 
votion to the Christian religion. He held the clothes 
of those who stoned the devoted Stephen. Even wo- 
men escaped not the fierceness of his wrath. [N'ot con- 
tent with persecuting them in Jerusalem, he pursued 
them into strange cities. He was, as he says, " exceed- 
ingly mad against them." He lived in all good con- 
science while pursuing this mad career, and could concede 
honesty of purpose to those who were doing as he had 
done. After his conversion to the Christian religion, 
and he had seen the error ot his way, he realized that he 
would have been lost, notwithstanding all his honesty 

(237) 



238 ' GOSPEL SERMONS. 

of purpose, had he died while persecuting the church 
of God. Knowing well the ignorance that beclouded 
the mind of the Jews, and caused them to substitute 
their own righteousness for the righteousness of Grod, 
his great desire was that they might come to a knowl- 
edge of the truth and be saved. 

But why should Paul have been so deeply concerned 
about the salvation of these Jews ? We are told that 
whatever a man believes to be right is right to him. 
These Jews had a zeal of God. True, it was not ac- 
cording to knowledge, but they thought it was. It was 
what they believed to be right — ^was it not right to 
them ? If not, why not ? In their ignorance they had 
substituted their own plan of salvation for God's plan ; 
but are there not religious parties doing the same thing 
to-day ? They think they are right, so did the Jews. 
If one can be saved, why not the other ? But the par- 
ties of to-day think they are right and we are wrong. 
Yes, there is no doubt about their thinking so. The 
Jews just as certainly thought they were right and 
Paul wrong. Did they not ? They thought they were 
right in rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ and having him 
crucified — did that make it right? Peter says : " But 
ye denied the Holy One, and the Just, and desired a 
niurderer to be granted unto you ; and killed the Prince 
of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead : where- 
of we are witnesses." " But they knew better." Peter 
did not think so. He says: "And now, brethren, I 
wot [know] that through ignorance ye did it, as did ^so 
your rulers." Acts iii : 14, 15, 17. 

Did their ignorance even excuse them ? He did not 
think so. He says : " Pepent ye therefore, and be con- 
verted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the 
times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the 



ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 239 

Lord." V. 19. Killing the Lord, believing it to be 
right, did not make it right ; nor did it excuse those 
who did it. They had to repent of what they igno- 
rantly did that was wrong, and turn away from it, or 
perish for having done it, however honest they had been 
in doing it. Does this mean any thing ? 

"We think it likely that there was never a man on the 
earth that had a more profound sympathy for any peo- 
ple than Paul had for the Jews, yet he did not feel 
authorized to expand the plan of salvation in order to 
save them, however honest and zealous they were in 
devotion to their law, while they rejected the gospel. 
He says : " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con- 
science also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in 
my heart ; for I could wish that myself were accursed 
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to 
the flesh." Eom. ix : 1-3. 

What could indicate a higher degree of sympathy 
than this ? That he should be willing to forfeit his own 
salvation to save them ! He exerted all his great pow- 
ers in trying to convince them of their wrong, and turn 
them from the law to the gospel ; but he never once 
intimated that their ignorance would excuse them, in 
rejecting the gospel, or that they could be saved with- 
out obedience to it. 

Had Jesus proposed to supplement Judaism with 
Christianity, they most likely would have accepted his 
teaching without a murmur ; but when he came pro- 
posing to cut up the Jewish religion, root and branch, 
and substitute an entirely new one, they revolted at it. 
They knew their religion was from GTod. They had 
seen too many evidences of this to be mistaken about it. 
Knowing this, they were not prepared to submit to its 



240 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

removal without a struggle. Many there are now who 
know how hard it is to give up a theory in which they 
have lived all their lives. When they have imhibed it 
from their parents, and have been taught from the cra- 
dle to manhood that it was true and sacred^ they have 
found it very hard to give it up. The Jews had seen 
many miraculous evidences of God's approval of their 
religion. This is more than any man can say of his re- 
ligion now. If persons are so slow to give up religious 
theories in which they have been trained from child- 
hood, why should we be astonished that the Jews were 
unwilling to give up a religion in which they had been 
brought up, and of which they had seen very many ev- 
idences of God's approval ? 

But Paul knew that give it up they must, or saved 
they could not be ; hence his great concern for them. 
The Jewish law had been taken out of the way by the 
death of Christ, after which they had to be saved by 
the gospel of Christ, or they could not be saved at all. 
He greatly desired their salvation, and it grieved him 
much to see them still clinging to the carcass of the 
law which could do them no good. 

Being ignorant of God's righteousness and going 
about to establish their own righteousness, they had not 
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 
The word righteousness sometimes has only a personal 
application, but in passages like this it has a much 
wider signification, embracing the whole plan of salva- 
tion, or God's plan of making men righteous. 

All unrighteousness is sin. No one having the small- 
est taint of sin upon him can enter heaven. The 
Jews, as all other men, were sinners. They could not 
go to heaven in their sins. Their good resolves for the 
future could not cancel the sins of the past. A distin- 



ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 241 

guishecl evangelist has preached all over the United 
States, that if a man wanted to he a Christian, all he 
had to do was " to quit sinning, join the church of his 
choice, and live right." But what is to he done with 
the dark mantle of sin covering the past life of the 
sinner? He must get rid of the sins of the past or be 
eternally lost. He cannot atone for them himself. The 
blood of Jesus Christ alone can take away sins. That 
can only be reached through the gospel ; for it is the 
power of God unto salvation. It is God's righteousness 
— God's only way of making sinners righteous. Igno- 
rant of this, Paul's kindred sought relief m a system 
of their own — the law of Moses, or the Jewish law. 
There was no pardon for them in this. They did not 
submit themselves to the gospel — how, then, could they 
be saved ? Had Paul wept tears of blood over them, he 
could not have saved them without submission, on their 
part, to God's plan of salvation. He could not obey the 
gospel for them. There is an individuality in religion 
that cannot be dispensed with, ^o one can obey the 
gospel by proxy. Each one must obey it for himself. 
This obedience the Jews refused to render ; therefore 
they could not be saved. But was there not as much 
chance for their salvation as for any one else who does 
no(i\ as they did then ? They w^ere zealous ; and their 
zeal was a zeal of God — religious zeal. They were as 
honest as any are now ; but they would not obey the 
gospel. It was the power of God to salvation, but they 
did not obey it. They tried a plan of their own, but 
that could not save them. Can the systems of men save 
now ? If not, why adhere to them ? 

Paul said his heart's desire and prayer to God for Is- 
rael was that they might be saved ; so our heart's desire 
and prayer to God for every honest man is that he may 
16 



242 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

be saved. But Paul's desire and prayer for Israel could 
not change the law of Grod concerning them. Thej had 
to abandon their own righteousness, and submit them- 
selves to God's righteousness, or be lost. So now we 
must give up the doctrines and commandments of men, 
and believe and obey the gospel, or we shall be lost. 
" This is a hard saying — ^^^ho can bear it ? " 

But we are told that this is religious intolerance. 
That it is uncharitable, and unkind. That it is religious 
bigotry and egotism. Were we to admit, at every breath, 
that we are wrong and others right, it would not change 
a single principle in God's government — not one. We 
only claim that the Bible is right — unquestionably right ; 
and every thing antagonistic to it is wrong to the full 
extent of that antagonism. Is there any thing wrong 
in this ? Surely not. 

How intolerant it was to reject Saul from being king 
over Israel because he spared Agag alive, and brought 
him back as evidence of his victory, and saved the best 
of the flocks and herds to sacrifice to God in Gilgal. 
He doubtless thought God would be pleased at this. 
He had commanded sacrifice to be made to him of such 
animals. Saul did not propose to sell them and pocket 
the money, but he proposed to offer them to the Lord. 
We suppose he was honest, for he withstood Samuel to 
the face, affirming that he had obeyed the commandment 
of the Lord. How exceedingly intoleranf in God to 
reject him for a matter so small, and apparently, unim- 
portant done with an honest purpose ! 

Was it not a little unkind to slay the young prophet 
for going back to Bethel and refreshing himself after 
having faithfully done every thing for which God sent 
him there ? God paralyzed the arm of Jeroboam when 
he sought to lay violent hands on him while in the dis- 



ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 243 

charge of liis duty, thus showiug that God was with 
him, and protected him while he obeyed him. When 
the king offered to reward liim if he would go in and 
refresh himself with him, he told him he would not do 
it for half his kingdom ; because God had commanded 
otherwise. Though he could not be bribed, he could be 
deceived. An old man lied to him and made him be- 
lieve that God, through a prophet, had ordered him to 
return. So he went and was slain for it. Was this not 
a small matter to kill a man for ? Just went back and 
ate his dinner, honestly believing that God had so or- 
dered ! Was not this bordering on cruelty 1 

Was it not doicnright cruelty to kill old Uzzah for 
putting his hand on the ark of the covenant when he 
thought it was in danger of falling ? In all the devotion 
ot his soul he did it. He loved that sacred ark and did 
not want to see it injured by falling ; hence he inadvert- 
ently put his hand on it to stay it, but it was a violation 
of God's law, for which he was smitten with instant 
death. Even David did not like this breach upon 
Uzzah. But God's law had to be honored ; hence Uzzah 
suffered the penalty for its violation, however pure 
his motives. 

Once more ; Was it not cruel to slay all the Amale- 
kites, men, icomen and children, for a crime committed 
by their ancestors four hundred years before they were 
born .^ You would scarcely have done that, would you ? 
" For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are 
your ways my ways, saith the Lord ; for as the heavens 
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than 
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 
Isa. Iv : 8, 9. 

But we are told that all religious parties believe the 
Bible. E"ot only do they believe it, but they believe it 



244 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

to be an infallible standard of right. Everj^ man be- 
lieves that his party faithfully teaches what is taught in 
the Bible. And the denominations, one and all, just as 
iirmly and honestly believe us to be wrong as Ave be- 
lieve them to be wrong. All this we freely concede ; 
but we cannot concede that all the conflicting and con- 
tradictor}^ doctrines taught by the denominations are 
taught in the Bible, and are, therefore from God. What 
then is to be done with them ? Some tell us to just let 
them alone. Will this ever heal the breaches in the 
walls of Zion? Hardly, we suppose, l^o one will ever 
be moved from any position, however dangerous it may 
be, by telling him that he is all right — that he is as safe 
where he is as he would be any where else. We can 
scarcely regard him as our friend who sees us believing 
and practicing grievous error, and yet fails to warn us 
of our danger. 

Jesus prayed to his Father that all who should be- 
lieve in him through the words of the apostles might be 
one ; and it occurs to us that every true and devoted 
Christian should earnestly labor to bring about the state 
of things for which Jesus prayed. 

We make no quarrel with any one for teaching what 
he honestly believes. This is right. All true men will 
teach just that. He would be a hypocritical deceiver 
were he to teach otherwise. We have no respect for 
him who caters to public opinion, especially in matters 
of religion. "Preach the truth if the heavens fall." 
Preach it in love, but preach it. Ot course we mean that 
you preach it as you understand it. You cannot preach 
it as others understand it, unless you understand it as 
they do. Stop not to inquire whether it is popular or 
unpopular, or whether it will be accepted or rejected by 
those for whom you preach. Preach the truth, and 



ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 245 

leave results to God and those who hear and read. Let 
every one take what he hears and reads to the Bible; 
and, for himself, diligently try it by that infallible stand- 
ard. That which cannot abide this test should be re- 
jected, no matter how high the source from which it 
comes. If it is in harmony with that standard, it can- 
not be wrong, and should be accepted, whether our 
parents believe it or not. Were this course pursued, all 
differences might not disappear ; but we are fully per- 
suaded that many of them would. God will settle the 
others in {he great day of accounts, if not before, as 
may be pleasing to him. Here we are content to leave 
this issue. There is no dogmatism in this. We want 
every one to have the utmost liberty of thought, feeling, 
and action. This is a God-given liberty. We are glad 
that no man can take it away if he would. We are sure 
that we would not if we could ; but God said : " The 
prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream, and he 
that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. 
What is the chaff to the wheat ? saith the Lord." Jer. 
xxiii : 28. We can not see why this should not apply 
to preachers as well as prophets. " When I say unto 
the wicked. Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him 
not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his 
wicked way, to save his life ; the same wicked man shall 
die in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thine 
hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not 
from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall 
die in his iniquity ; but thou hast delivered thy soul." 
Again : " When a righteous man doth turn from his 
righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stum- 
blmgblock before him, he shall die ; because thou hast 
not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his 
ri2:hteousness which he hath done shall not be remem- 



246 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

berecl ; but his blood will I require at thine hand." Ez. 

iii: 18-20. 

GODS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

We have already quoted John saying : " All unright- 
eousness is sin." 1 John v : 17. "• Siu is the transgres- 
sion of the law." 1 John iii : 4. Therefore unright- 
eousness is the transgression of the law ; and the trans- 
gression of the law is unrighteousness. " He that doeth 
righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous." 1 
John iii : 7. To be fit for companionship with Jesus we 
must be perfectly righteous as he is, for no one defiled by 
sin can enter heaven. 

** No cloud those blissful regions know, 

For ever bright and fair ; 
For sin, the source of every woe, 

Can never enter there." 

Jesus, himself was the only sinless one that ever lived 
on this earth. "If we say that we have no sin, we de- 
ceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." And again : 
'' If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a 
liar, and his w^ord is not in us." 1 John i : 8, 10. Then 
as all men sin, and one defiled by sin cannot enter 
heaven ; it follows that all must become righteous, in 
some way, or be lost. 

He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as Jesus 
is righteous. He that is thus perfectly righteous stands 
before God as guiltless as though he had never sinned. 
"He that doeth righteousness is righteous." When 
Peter went with the message of life to the Gentiles, he 
said: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter 
of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth him, 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." Acts 
X : 34, 35. When we speak of obeying God, our friends 
quote Paul, "not of works — not of works," without 



ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 247 

stopping to enquire what Paul meant by the expression, 
" not of works." Peter here says : he that feareth God 
and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Will 
the objector say, " stop Peter, there must he no ivorks 
about it, lest there be room for boasting?" But Peter 
is sustained by John. There is no ditference in doing 
righteousness, and working righteousness. He that ac- 
cepts God's righteousness becomes personally righteous^ 
That is, he that believes and obeys the gospel, wherein 
God's righteousness is revealed, is saved — made right- 
eous. " If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we 
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus 
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John i: 7. 
The blood of Jesus is the only thing which can cleanse 
from sin. It can only cleanse those who come in con- 
tact with it. This can only be done through the means 
which God has appointed for that purpose. Hence 
Paul said : '* For I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to 
every one that belie veth ; to the Jew first, and also to 
the Greek ; for therein is the righteousness of God re- 
vealed from faith to faith ; as it is written. The just shall 
live by faith." Rom. i : 16, 17. 

The gospel of Christ is the power of God to the sal- 
vation of no one who fails to believe it. It is the power 
of God to the salvation of the believer, because God's 
righteousness is revealed in it from faith to faith. That 
is, God's righteous plan of saving men by a system of 
faith, is revealed in the gospel in order to personal faith. 
From faith to faith; i. e., from a system of faith to per- 
sonal faith. Therefore Paul says : Faith cometh by 
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." E.om. x : 17. 

But faith has nothing meritorious in it, more than 
any other act of obedience to God. Its value consists in 



248 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

bringing us to Christ. " He is the propitiation for our 
sins ; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
whole world." 1 John ii : 2. He is the great Physician 
who has power to cure the sin-sick soul. Faith moves 
the sinner to him ; but it must do more than this — it 
must induce him to take the remedies prescribed. Faith 
that does not do this, is worthless. The power of the 
Physician is in his remedies, and his skill consists in his 
ability to adapt his remedies to the condition of his 
patient. The patient may have all faith in the skill of 
the Physician, and in the potency of his remedial agents ; 
but if he refuse to submit to his treatment, the Physi- 
cian can do him no good. So the sinner may believe in 
Christ, but if he refuse to obey him, he will be lost. As 
the patient could not be cured by the doctor until he 
took his remedies, neither can the believing sinner be 
saved by Christ, until he complies with the conditions 
on which Christ proposes to save him. 

When the dying Israelite was commanded to look on 
the brazen serpent placed on a pole, and reared iu the 
camp, he was not healed imtil he looked as required. Had 
he believed, ever so earnestly, that the brazen serpent 
was on the pole, and that God was able to cure him 
when he should look upon it, and still refused to look 
as comnaanded, he would have died, notwithstanding 
his faith in the means prepared for his cure. The rem- 
edy was, believe and look, (of course he would not look 
until he did believe, hence belief was implied.) E'ow it 
is believe and be baptized, with the promise that salvation 
will be the result. " Well, but I think God will save me 
without baptism." Perhaps he will, but it occurs to us 
that a very important question for your consideration 
is, has he promised to save yon ivithout it ? He coidd have 
cured the dying Israelite without his looking on that 



i 



ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. 249 

brazen serpent ; but did be promise to do it that way ? 

''But Paul told the jailer to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and he should be saved." Yes, but did he say 
" believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be 
saved without baptism ? " Had he thus spoken it would 
have been in direct antagonism to the commission given 
by the Lord Jesus, saying, '' He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved." Surely Paul did not com- 
mand belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the same 
moment antagonize his teaching. We can scarcely be- 
lieve he did this, at the jail, or any where else. 

Suppose we visit our neighbor and find him very sick. 
We urge him to send for the doctor. He has no confi- 
dence in the doctor suggested, and declines to send for 
him. Knowing the doctor better than the sick man, we 
say to him : " Believe in the doctor and he will cure you.'' 
Would any one understand us to mean that if the sick 
man would believe in the doctor, he would be cured 
without the means prescribed by the doctor ? Surely 
not. We suppose all w^ould understand us to mean that 
the sick man should believe in the doctor strong enough 
to send for him, and submit to his treatment when he 
should come. So when Paul told the jailer to believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and he should be saved, he did 
not mean that he should be saved without compliance 
with the commission. The obvious design was that he 
should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ so that he 
might be willing to do w^hat the Lord Jesus Christ re- 
quired of him. Hence he spake unto him the word of 
the Lord, and to all that were in his house, and they 
obeyed it the same hour of the night. The jailer aban- 
doned his own righteousness, if he had any, and 
promptly submitted to God's righteousness and was 
saved. Those w^ho w^ill do now^ as he did, may be saved 



250 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

as he was. This no one who is loyal to the Bible will 
deny. Then will all persons wishing to be saved, ac- 
cept salvation on the same terms proposed to, and ac- 
cepted by him ? If not, why not ? 

The sinner has no righteousness of his OAvn to com- 
mend him to the favor of God. There is nothing he 
can do that will pay God an equivalent for his salvation. 
No wisdom of his can devise a plan by which to save 
himself. Through Christ alone is there hope of salva- 
tion for any son of Adam. Hence there is no place for 
boasting. It is excluded by the law of faith. Christ is 
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifi- 
cation, and redemption. So then let him that glorieth, 
glory in the Lord. " Unto him that loved us, and 
washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; 
to him be glory and dominion for ever." Rev. i : 5, 6. 

" Should my tears forever flow, 
Should my zeal no languor know, 

This for sin could not atone ; 
Thou must save, and thou alone: 

In my hand no price I bring 
Simply to thy cross I cling. 

While I draw this fleeting breath, 

When my eyelids close in death, 
When I rise to worlds unknown, 

And behold thee on thy throne ; 
Kock of ages, cleft for me, 

Let me hide myself in thee 1 " 



4 



CHAPTER XV. 



PAUL S NATURAL MAN. 

" But the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God : for they are foolishness unto him ; neither 
can he know them, because they are spiritually dis- 
cerned." 1 Cor. ii: 14. 

THIS Scripture is used by many to show that ruan 
is incapable of understanding the Bible without 
supernatural aid. The Catholic expositors take the 
Bible from the people because they cannot understand 
it. The advocates of direct spiritual influences invoke 
the aid of this passage as conclusive proof of their posi- 
tion. Both classes start out with quite a number of 
unsupported assumptions. 

(1) " The natural man is the sinner — the uncon- 
verted, and includes all the unconverted in contrast 
with the converted man, which includes all Christians." 

(2) " The Bible, or Word of God, if not the things of 
the Spirit, is at least a thing of the Spirit." 

(3) " Therefore the word of God will not be received 
by the sinner, for it is foolishness to him ; neither can 
he know or understand it because it is spiritually dis- 
cerned. Until God spiritually illuminates his under- 
standing — converts him — makes a Christian of him, he 
can know nothing about the Scriptures." 

Then of what use is the Bible ? If God must illumi- 
nate the mind of the unregenerate sinner by a direct 

(251) 



252 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

operation of the Holy Spirit before he can understand 
what is revealed in the Bible concerning him, why not 
make the revelation without the Bible ? If the Bible 
cannot be understood by the unconverted man, then 
w^e respectfully submit that it is no revelation until he 
is converted. Indeed, a revelation wiiich cannot be un- 
derstood by those for whom the revelation is made, is 
simply no revelation at all. Such a thought is a most 
ridiculous absurdity. 

David says : " The law of the Lord is perfect, con- 
verting the soul." In the very matter of converting the 
soul, the law of the Lord is perfect ; and yet the man to 
be converted by it cannot understand a word of it, or get 
a thought out of it, or from it, until he is converted. 
"The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the 
simple." Ps. xix : 7. How could it make a man wise 
who could not understand a word of it ? How any one 
can grow wise by reading and studying that which he 
cannot understand, is a matter incomprehensible to us. 

But if the sinner cannot understand the revelation 
until God converts him from a natural to a spiritual 
man, and the good Lord fails to convert him, whose 
fault will it be, should he fail of conversion entirely? 
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, (Rom. 
i : 16) and therefore, without it, there can be no salva- 
tion, and the gospel is all foolishness to the natural man 
or sinner — he cannot know any thing about it until God 
illuminates him by conversion — he waits for the illu- 
mination and it never comes, who is responsible for the 
failure? Certainly not the natural man or sinner, for 
he can do nothing. All God's powder to save him is in 
the gospel, and it is utterly incomprehensible to him, 
and he has no more power to understand and believe 
it than he has to make a world ; and yet God will damn 



253 

him if lie does uot believe it. " He that believeth not 
shall be damned." Mark xvi : 16. And from this 
stand-point it looks a little like God is about as power- 
less to save as the sinner is to be saved. The gospel is 
the power of God unto salvation — not a power — some 
power — one of the powers, but the power, and the sin- 
ner cannot receive that, how then, can he be saved by 
this arrangement ? The God of the Bible that made 
the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them 
are, did not fix up such a system of salvation as this. 
It is man's work, surely. 

"• For the word of the cross is to them that are per- 
ishing foolishness ; but unto us which are being saved it 
is the power of God ; for it is written, I Avill destroy 
the wisdom of the wise ; and the prudence of the pru- 
dent will I reject. Where is the wise ? Where is the 
scribe ? Where is the disputer of this world ? Hath 
not God made foolish the wisdom of the world ? For 
seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through 
its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure 
through the foolishness of the thing preached to save 
them that believe.'' 1 Cor. i : 18-21. [iV. F"., margin.'] 

While the preaching of the cross of Christ seemed 
to be foolishness to them who were trying to find out 
God by their own wisdom, it was the power of God to 
the salvation of those who were being saved by it. 
While the world through its wisdom knew^ not God, it 
pleased God to save, through the gospel, them who be- 
lieved it, though it seemed only foolishness to them 
who were relying on their ow^n wisdom. The Epicu- 
rian philosophers and Stoics of Athens thought Paul 
a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto 
them Jesus and the resurrection. Acts xvii : 18. 

Jesus said : '' 1 thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven 



254 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise 
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto bahes : even 
so, Father ; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All 
things are delivered to me of my Father : and no man 
knoweth who the Son is, but the Father ; and who the 
Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will 
reveal him." Luke x : 21, 22. 

These Scriptures show the utter impossibility of 
knowing or linding out God but by revelation, and 
surely these revelations were intended to be understood 
by those to whom and for whom they were made, oth- 
erwise they could have furnished no assistance in com- 
ing to a knowledge of God, and would have left the 
world to the wisdom of man at last. 

Let us next see how God made revelations for the 
benefit of his creature man. " Knowing this first, that 
no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpreta- 
tion. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will 
of man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost. ' 2 Pet. i : 20, 21. 

David said : " The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, 
and his word was in my tongue." 2 Sam. xxiii : 2. 

Thus we see that holy men of God spake as they 
were moved or inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that 
the tongues of inspired men were used to reveal or 
make known God's will to other men, or, if you please, 
natural men. These spiritual men were not'always un- 
der the spirit of inspiration, nor was every thing re- 
vealed at once ; but when God saw fit to reveal any 
thing, he put his words into their mouths and caused 
them to speak them, not for their own benefit exclu- 
sively, but for the benefit of such as were intended to be 
aftected by the revelation. This has ever been God's 
method of communicating his will to the race of man ; 



Paul's natural man. 255 

and this was the subject under consideration when the 
apostle used the language of our text, as an examina- 
tion of the context will clearly show. 

He says: '-And my speech and my preaching was 
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in dem- 
onstration of the Spirit and of power ; that your faith 
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the 
power of God." 1 Cor. ii : 4, 5. Paul, as an apostle, 
had power to confirm and to demonstrate what he 
preached ; and at no place did he more freely confer 
these gifts of the Spirit than at Corinth, so that no con- 
gregation excelled the Corinthians in the exercise of 
these supernatural powers. 

" Howbeit," says he, '' we speak wisdom among them 
that are perfect : yet not the wisdom of this world, nor 
of the princes of this world, that come to nought : but 
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the 
hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world 
unto our glory : which none of the princes of this world 
knew : for had they known it, they would not have 
crucified the Lord of glory." v. 6-8. IsTo, if they had 
been inspired or spiritual men, as Paul was, they would 
have known the Lord and would not have put him to 
death. This is clear enough. 

" But as it is written. Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
things which God hath prepared for them that love 
him ; but God hath revealed them unto us by his 
Spirit ; tor the Spirit searcheth all things." Yes, God 
has revealed these things unto us. Us whom ? We will 
see directly. 

" For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ 
for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation 
of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward : 



256 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

How that by revelation he made known unto me the 
mystery ; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when 
ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mys- 
tery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known 
unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his 
holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." Eph. iii : 1-5. 

Here were things that had been hidden from the world 
for ages, which God had now revealed to his holy 
apostles and prophets by his Spirit ; and Paul wrote 
them to the Ephesians that they might understand that 
which had hitherto been a mystery. However pro- 
found and long concealed this mystery, when it was 
revealed to Paul, and he wTote it to them, it was a 
mystery no longer ; for the very object of writing it to 
them was that they might understand his knowledge in 
the mystery. 

Then we see that God, by his Spirit, revealed these 
things unto its holy apostles and prophets. Having seen 
this, we resume our examination of the context. 

" For what man knoweth the things of a man, save 
the spirit of man which is in him ? even so the things 
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God [knows]." 
Until the spirit of man reveals what is m him, no oth- 
er man can know it, even so no man can know the 
things of God until he by his Spirit reveals them. 

^' 'Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, 
but the spirit which is of God : that we might know 
the things that are freely given to us of God. Which 
things also we speak, not in the words which man's 
wisdom teach eth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth ; 
comparing spiritual things with spiritual." v. 12, 13. 

The apostles had received the Spirit of God that they 
miglit know the things freely given to them of God ; 
and the things thus received b}^ them they spoke in 



Paul's natural man. 257 

words furnished by the Spirit, and the oLject was that 
those to be benelitted might receive and understand the 
revelation thus made. 

" But the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God : lor they are foolishness unto him : 
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned." v. 14. Il^atural men not having the Spirit 
of God b}^ which inspired men knew things freely given 
to them, could not receive spiritual communications, 
for they were foolishness to them until spiritual men 
received them, and wrote, or spoke them, in words 
which natural men could understand. 

Thus God made known spiritual things through spir- 
itual men to natural men ; not that the things revealed 
might remain in mystery, but that they might be en- 
veloped in mystery no longer. 

All men are natural men in the sense in which Paul 
used the phrase. He meant iminspired men who could 
not receive spiritual communications directly from God; 
hence, whether saint or sinner, as there are no inspired 
men, all are natural men now, and will so remain, 
whether converted o-r not. 

The same thought in our text may be seen by an ex- 
amination of examples, showing that God put his Spirit 
into men to reveal things of which natural men could 
know nothing until spiritual men revealed them — then 
they were plain enough to be understood by all. We 
have room for a very few only, of the many examples 
which might be given in illustration of this fact. 

When Joseph was a slave in Egypt, for no fault 
of his own, he was put into prison ; and after a time 
the king's chief butler and baker were put into the 
same prison. 

^' And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man 
17 



258 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

his dream in one night, each man according to the in- 
terpretation of his dream, the hutler and the baker of 
the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison. 
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and 
looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad. And 
he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the 
ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye 
so sadly to-day? And they said unto him, We have 
dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And 
Joseph said unto them. Do not interpretations belong 
to God ? tell me them, I pray you." Gen. xl : 5-8. 

Each one toJd Joseph his dream, and Joseph, or rather 
God through Joseph, gave the interpretations. He in- 
formed the butler that in three days he would be re- 
stored to his office, and bear the king's wine as before 
he was put in prison ; and he told the baker that in 
three days he would be hanged on a tree and the birds 
would eat his flesh. 

" And it came to pass the third day, which was Pha- 
oh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his ser- 
vants : and he lifted up the head of the chief butler 
and of the chief baker among his servants. And he 
restored the chief butler unto his butlership again ; and 
he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand ; but he hanged 
the chief baker : as Joseph had interpreted to them. 
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but for- 
gat him." Gen. xl . 20-23. 

]^ow, why could not the baker and butler interpret 
their own dreams? Simply because they were natural 
men — not discerners of spiritual things. Why could 
Joseph interpret and make plain that which was fool- 
ishness to them until revealed ? Because he was a man 
in whom the Spirit of God dwelt, and through whom 
God made revelations to natural men. We suppose the 



Paul's natural man. 259 

baker and butler understood the interpretation of their 
dreams quite well as soon as Joseph gave it to them, 
even before it was verified on the third day. 

When Joseph saw that the butler was to be set at lib- 
erty, he made a request of him in his own behalf. ^'But 
think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew 
kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of 
me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: for 
indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the He- 
brews : and here also have I done nothing that they 
should put me into the dungeon." Gen. xl : 14, 15. 

"And it came to pass at the end of two full years, 
that Pharaoh dreamed : and, behold, he stood by the 
river. And, behold, there came up out of the river 
seven well-favored kine and fatfleshed ; and they fed in 
a meadow. And, behold, seven other kine came up af- 
ter them out of the river, ill-favored and leanfleshed ; 
and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. 
And the ill favored and leanfleshed kine did eat up the 
seven well-favored and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. 
And he slept and dreamed the second time : and, behold, 
seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and 
good. And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with 
the east wind sprung up after them. And the seven 
thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And 
Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And it 
came to pass in the morning that his spirit was 
troubled ; and he sent and called for all the magicians 
of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh 
told them his dream ; but there was none that could in- 
terpret them unto Pharaoh." 

Ah, indeed ! why not ? Here are wise men and ma- 
gicians, doubtless learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, 
why did they fail? Because they were natural men, 



2G0 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

not discerners of spiritual things ; hence these dreams 
were foolishness to them. Bj the wisdom of men they 
could not know them. 

" Then spake the chief butler nnto Pharaoh, saying, 
I do remember my faults this day : Pharaoh was wroth 
with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of 
the guard's house, both me and the chief baker : and 
we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he ; we 
dreamed each man according to the interpretation of 
his dream. And there was there with us a young man, 
an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard ; and 
we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to 
each man according to his dream he did interpret. 
And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was : 
me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged." 

Yes, poor, frail, ungrateful humanity. At liberty 
himself he thought no more of his friend, and allowed 
him to languish in prison for two full years, until his 
services were needed to do that which none of them 
could do, then his memory was quickened into a con- 
fession of his fault. Are there not many butlers to-day ? 
Devoted to a friend as long as they can use him to their 
own advantage, but forget him in his distress, when 
they need him no longer. 

*' Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they 
brought him hastily out of the dungeon : and he shaved 
himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto 
Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have 
dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret 
it : and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst un- 
derstand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered 
Pharaoh, saying. It is not in me : God shall give Pha- 
raoh an answer of peace." 

Unaided of God, Joseph would have been as other 



Paul's natural man. 261 

men, but God, through him, made revelations which 
natural men could understand well enough after tlie 
revelation was made. 

" And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pha- 
raoh is one; God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is 
about to do. The seven good kine are seven years ; 
and the seven good ears are seven years : the dream is 
one. And the seven thin and ill-favored kine that 
came up after them are seven years; and the seven 
empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven 
years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken 
unto Pharaoh : "What God is about to do he sheweth 
unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of 
great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt : And 
there shall arise after them seven years of famine ; and 
all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; 
and the famine shall consume the land ; and the plenty 
shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine 
following ; for it shall be very grievous. And for that 
the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice ; it is be- 
cause the thing is established by God, and God will 
shortly bring it to pass." Gen. xli : 25-32. 

Here were things revealed by God through Joseph, 
and they did come to pass. The seven years of plenty 
did come, and the seven years of famine did follow. 
And the king understood the interpretation very well, 
for he took Joseph's advice and went to laying up 
food during the seven years of plenty to supply the 
wants of the people during the seven years of famine. 

Xow, this exactly illustrates the natural man of our 
text. Paul's natural man could not receive the things 
of the Spirit of God, neither could the wise men and 
magicians of Egypt. Pharaoh's dreams were just as 
foolish to the wise men of Egypt as was any thing to 



262 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the natural men of Corinth ; and the things which Paul 
spake in words furnished him by the Holy Spirit were 
just as easily understood after he spoke them, as were 
the words of Joseph, in which Pharaoh's dreams were 
interpreted to him. Let us examine another case. 

While many of the Jews were held captive in Baby- 
lon, the king " Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, where- 
with his Spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from 
him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, 
and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chal- 
deans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came 
and stood before the king." Dan. ii : 1,2. 

Surely if man's wisdom could reveal the things of 
God, here is enough of it to accomplish the work. But 
they were natural men, not discerners of spiritual things; 
hence the king's dream was nought but foolishness to 
them, and he issued a decree that they should all be 
slain as pretenders. 

" Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the 
king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon : 
he went and said thus unto him ; Destroy not the wise 
men of Babylon : bring me in before the king and I 
will shew unto the king the interpretation. Then 
Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and 
said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives 
of Judah that will make known unto the king the in- 
terpretation. The king answered and said' to Daniel, 
whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make 
known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the 
interpretation thereof? Daniel answered in the pres- 
ence of the king, and said, The secret which the king 
hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, 
the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king ; 
but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and 



Paul's natural man. 263 

maketh known to the king ]!:^ebuchadnezzar what shall 
be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of 
thy head upon thy bed, are these ; As for thee, king, 
thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what 
should come to pass hereafter : and he that revealeth 
secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.' 
But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any 
wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their 
sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the 
king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy 
heart. Thou, king, sawest, and behold a great im- 
age. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, 
stood before thee ; and the form thereof was terrible. 
This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his 
arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs 
of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou 
sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which 
smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and 
clay, and brake them to pieces." Dan. ii : 24-34. 

Without stopping to quote all the interpretation of 
this dream, it is sufficient to state that Daniel, by the 
Spirit of God, did interpret it, and show that each of 
these parts of the image represented a government that 
should arise, and in the time of the last one the God 
of heaven would set up a kingdom which should never 
be destroyed. Thus we see that the Spirit of God, 
through Daniel, made clear what the combined wisdom 
of Babylon failed to explain. " The Chaldeans an- 
swered before the king and said, There is not a man 
upon the earth that can shew the king's matter." And 
this was true of natural men, who, without inspiration, 
were not able to discern spiritual things. Take an- 
other example. 

Belshazzar, the king, made a great feast, and '' In 



264 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and 
wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of 
the wall of the king's palace : and the king saw the part 
of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance 
was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the 
joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one 
against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the 
astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And 
the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, 
Whosoever shall read this w^riting, and shew me the 
interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and 
have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the 
third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the 
king's wise men : but they could not read the writing, 
nor make known to the king the interpretation there- 
of." Dan. V : 5-8. 

Here is another failure of the wisest of natural men 
to comprehend the things of the Spirit ; but Daniel, 
aided by the Spirit of interpretation, did read the want- 
ing on the wall, and revealed the doom of the king, 
and the division of his kingdom between the Medes and 
Persians. " In that night was Belshazzar the king of 
the Chaldeans slain." v. 30. 

Thus we see that God has always made revelations 
through spiritual men for the benefit of natural men, 
who could know nothing of spiritual things until re- 
vealed by the Holy Spirit that they might understand 
them. " And he gave some, apostles ; and some, proph- 
ets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and 
teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work 
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ : 
till w^e all come in the unity of the faith, and of the 
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto 
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 
Eph. iv : 11-13. 



Paul's natural man. 265 

All these spiritual gifts and revelations were given 
through God's appointed agencies with a view to the 
salvation of the world ; and if any are not saved, it is 
not because they cannot understand the revelation 
made concerning their duty, but because they will not 
avail themselves of the means provided for their 
salvation that they may be saved. 

" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy la- 
den, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 
and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart : 
and ye shall lind rest unto your souls. For my yoke 
is easy, and my burden is light." Matt, xi : 28-30. 

Jesus would not mock the sinner by inviting him to 
come to him if he could not come. The very fact that 
Jesus invites him is proof enough that he can come, if he 
will. But he invites only him who labors and is heavy la- 
den. He who is not weary of sin and feels not his need of 
a Savior will not come. All overtures of mercy are made 
in vain to him. The cross of Christ is planted in vain 
before him. He will look with perfect indifference on 
his quivering flesh as the rusty spikes make him fast to 
the wood. He can look upon the mangled body of the 
ever blessed Son of God, as his blood flows for the sins 
of men, without a blush or a tremor of a nerve. He 
must realize that he is lost without Jesus, before he will 
accept salvation through him on any terms. It is idle 
to talk of the sinner's inability to understand the gospel. 
It is quite easy to teach him what God requires of him 
when he wants to know it. It is much more difficult to 
awaken the sinner to a sense of his danger, and get him 
to want to he saved,, than it is to tell him how to he 
saved, provided, always, that the preacher understands the 
gospel himself. The heavy laden sinner who comes to 
Christ will always find the promised rest ; but he must 



266 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

come trusting in the slied blood of Jesus and the prom- 
ises of God. And he must come in the way marked out 
by the Savior. In this way ^' the Spirit and the bride say, 
come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let 
him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely." Rev. xxii : 17. Yes, 
whosoever will ! Thank God, whosoever will, may come. 
If the sinner is not saved it is because he will not be 
saved. God loved him — Jesus died for him — the Spirit 
invites him— the church or bride invites him — angels 
are concerned for him. " But ye will not come unto 
me." This is the trouble. 

"What could your Eedeemer do, 

More than he has done for you ? 
To procure your peace with God, 

Could he more than shed his blood ? 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through, 
the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. Accord- 
ing as his divine power hath given unto us all things 
that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowl- 
edge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 
whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious 
promises : that by these ye might be partakers of the 
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in 
the world through lust." 2 Pet. i : 2-4. 

WE inherit human nature from our parents; 
but we must be partakers of the divine nature 
before we can be fit for divine society. To enjoy the 
society of God, Jesus, angels, and purified spirits in 
heaven, our natures must be assimilated to theirs ; and 
the Christian religion is calculated to efiect this trans- 
formation. "We think it likely that this life was given 
us in which to prepare for another — a higher, purer, and 
more perfect state of existence, of which God is the 
center, and where angels and purified spirits make up 
the society. This would not be a state of happiness to 
the wicked and vicious even if it were possible for them to 
be placed in it. They cannot be happy in good society 
here ; how, then, could they enjoy the society of heaven? 
Take a man who has grown up in the constant practice 
of vice and wickedness — who has visited places of riotry 
and dissipation much more frequently than he has gone 
to church — who has gone where profanity and vulgarity 
were indulged in by his daily associates — where dishon- 

(267) 



268 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

esty and fraud were studied as an occupation — where 
theft is dishonorable only when exposed; and where 
murder is so common that there is no more respect for 
the life of a man than for the life of a good clever bird- 
dog ; and place him in a company wholly made up of 
Christian men and women, who are talking about the 
deplorable consequences of sin, or the glorious success 
of a protracted meeting that is going on in the neigh- 
borhood — could he enjoy such company, and with 
pleasure participate in the conversation ? He would be 
quite miserable, and would withdraw at the earliest 
practicable moment, and seek company more congenial 
to him. If it were possible to place such a man in 
heaven, he would abscond to hell as soon as he could 
get away. Heaven would be a place of indescribable 
horror and awful misery to such a character. The 
purer the association of such men, the more miserable 
they are. What a picture for the contemplation of a 
Universalist ! 

Heaven can be entered by only the pure and holy. 
I^one others could enjoy it, if there. It requires assimi- 
lation of nature to the nature of those who will make 
up, and constitute the society of heaven to enable the 
saints to be happy in heaven. The Christian religion 
was designed to mould the aifections, and so control the 
life of m.an as to plant and develop the divine nature in 
him who is in the daily practice of it. 

Jesus said : " Love your enemies, bless them that 
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for 
them which despitefully use you and persecute you." 
Matt. V : 44. An objector says : ^' It is impossible for 
me to do this. I cannot love that man that cursed and 
abused me — that slandered me and my family — that 
swindled m.e out of my property — that tried to kill me 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 269 

when I had done him no harpi — I cannot love him. It 
is contrary to human nature to love such a man." Yes, 
it is certainly contrary to human nature to love him ; 
but is it contrary to the divine nature to love him ? If 
you will bring yourself under the control of the divine 
nature, perhaps you might find it quite easy to do that 
which seems so revolting to human nature. Jesus 
prayed for those who crucified him : " Father forgive 
them, they know not what they do." If you possessed 
the same nature which he had, could you not pray for 
your enemies as he did ? God loved the world, when it 
was in rebellion against him. " For when we were yet 
without strength, in due time Christ died for the un- 
godly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die : 
yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare 
to die. But God commendeth his love' toward us, in 
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 
Rom. V : 6-8. 

Had the divine nature acted from the impulses of hu- 
man nature, when would the scheme of human redemp- 
tion have been wrought out ? Never. The world was 
lost, and lost it would have remained without the very 
love which Jesus requires of us. The divine nature is 
equal to this — human nature is not. Oh, but you say : 
'^ I have not this nature, and never can have it, for I 
cannot love my enemies. If God requires this of me, I 
am lost, for I never can do it." Peter thought it possi- 
ble for those to whom he wrote to be partakers of the 
divine nature, and if they could partake of this nature, 
why may we not become partakers of it as they did ? 
We have the same religion they had, and can read the 
same instructions given to them — why may we not par- 
take of the same nature which they had ? 

This nature is not to be put on in full development 



270 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

at once, as a mau may put ou his coat, but it is to be 
cultivated and progressively developed by a system of 
means given for that purpose. The character that is 
void of love is wholly unlike God, and cannot enjoy 
him ; for so prominent is love in the attributes of God 
that the apostle says : " He that loveth not, knoweth 
not God ; for God is love." 1 John iv : 8. There can 
be no congeniality between the " God of love " and a 
character without love. 

'' In this was manifested the love of God toward us, 
because that God sent his only begotten Son into the 
world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, 
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent 
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if 
God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 'No 
man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, 
God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." 1 
John iv : 9-12. 

Thus we see that it is not enough that we love God, 
but we must love one another. " We love him because 
he first loved us." But this would seem to be an inter- 
ested love — we love because we are loved. Our love 
must go beyond this. " If a man say, I love God, and 
hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not 
his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God 
whom he hath not seen ? And this commandment have 
we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother 
also." 1 Johniv: 20, 21. 

From these Scriptures we see that love is a prominent 
element in the divine 7iature, and if we would be partak- 
ers of the divine nature we must cultivate the spirit of 
love — love for God, love for the brethren, love for our 
enemies, love for all men. Our love must be as broad 
as the universe of God, and the race of man. 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 271 

" Owe no man any thing, but to love one another : 
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For 
this, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not 
kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false wit- 
ness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other 
commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this say- 
ing, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor : therefore love is 
the fulfilling of the law." Eom. xiii : 8-10. 

Thus we see that the law of love not only cultivates 
that God-like principle, but restrains vicious propenpi- 
ties and evil desires. It prunes off redundancies, rounds 
off the angles, and smooths over the rough places of our 
nature, and cultivates purity of heart and holiness of 
life, until we are brought to that standard of perfection 
that makes us ever anxious to do good, and tremble at 
the thought of offending God by doing evil. It em- 
bodies the golden rule, " Do unto others as you would 
have them do unto you." "Love worketh no ill to his 
neighbor." When we see a man seeking to injure his 
neighbor in order to profit himself, we may feel sure 
that he has not partaken of the divine nature, and is 
a stranger to that love which fits men for the society of 
heaven. If he would swindle his neighbor or his 
brother here, he would seek to swindle Gabriel out of 
his position in the presence of God, if he could get 
there and make it profitable for him to occupy it. Such 
men are wholly unfit for the climes of bliss, however 
long their faces, or sanctimonious their pretensions. 

" Though I speak with the tongues of men and ©f 
angels and have not love, I am become as sounding 
brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the 
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all 
knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could 



272 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. 
And though I bestow all mj goods to feed the poor, 
and though I give my body to be burned and have not 
love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and 
is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is 
not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, 
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh 
no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the 
truth ; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth 
all things, endureth all things." 1 Cor. xiii : 1-7. 

By this we learn that it matters not what amount of 
knowledge we have, what the strength of our faith, or 
what the extent of the sacrifices we make, if we have 
not love, nothing we are, have, or do, will avail us any 
thing. Thus the apostle sums up the grand achieve- 
ments of love, in moulding human character in accord- 
ance with the divine nature. 

After thus impressing the Corinthians with the utter 
barrenness of Christian character without love, and the 
glorious achievements of it, the apostle winds up his 
most impressive lesson on the importance and suprem- 
acy of love in the following words: " But now abideth 
faith, hope, love, these three ; and the greatest of these 
is love." 1 Cor. xiii : 13. When we rightly consider 
the importance of faith and hope with which love is 
here compared, we may the better appreciate the value 
of the latter. Let us look at them a little. 

Faith is the main -spring of all acceptable obedience 
to God — without it we cannot please him in any thing. 
It purifies the heart, and works by love. It is the first 
condition of salvation, and produces repentance ; and, 
perfected by obedience, secures eternal life ; yet love 
is greater than faith. The apostle says so, and so it is. 

Hope is the anchor of the soul, and enters within the 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 273 

vail where Jesus has for us entered. It sustains the 
drooping spirits of the wayworn pilgrim amid the per- 
secutions, trials, vexations, and disappointments inci- 
dent to his journey through life, insomuch that the 
apostle says " we are saved hy hope," for without it we 
would sink into despondency and die in despair ; yet 
love is greater than hope. 

Faith and hope end with this life. They cannot cross 
the chilly waters of death and enter into the home he- 
yond. Faith wdll he lost in sight. Our feet will walk 
the golden streets of the celestial city, and we shall see 
Jesus as he is. Hope will he swallowed up in realiza- 
tion. Here we hope for glory, honor, and eternal life — 
in heaven these will he enjoyed, and for them we shall 
hope no more. There will he neither faith nor hope in 
heaven. But love will continue to bind us to God and 
humanity through this life, and its golden cords will 
perhaps grow stronger in the life which is to come. 
Love will live in immortal vigor while eternal years 
roll on. Love will have no end, but will go on w^hile 
God and immortality endure. 

" Love is the golden chain that binds, 

The happy souls above ; 
And he's an heir of heaven who finds, 

His bosom glow with love." 

There are other elements in the divine nature, but 
they are subordinate to and measured by love. Every 
thing required by God of his creature, man, was in- 
tended to be conducive to the highest happiness of 
man. Nothing can add to the glory of God. The 
earth is filled with the glory of the Lord, fN'um. xiv : 
21. Ps. Ixxii : 19.) and the very heavens declare the 
glory of God. (Ps. xix: 1.) All our efibrts to glorify 
God is but a recognition of the glory which already 
18 



274 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

belongs to him. There can be no such thing as selfish- 
ness in God. He requires no service at our hands to en- 
rich him, or add to his glory. Such a thought is 
ridiculously absurd. Jesus told the Jews that what 
they did to benefit others they did to and for him. We 
honor the Bridegroom by partaking of the supper pre- 
pared for us at his own expense. We give glory to 
God when we wash our own robes in the blood of his 
Son. Obedience to the gospel secures eternal life to us 
through the grace of God manifested to the world in 
the gift of his Son. My dear friend, have you ever 
€onsidered the depth of your ingratitude to the Bride- 
groom, in refusing to go in with him to the supper 
prepared for you at such fearful cost ? Your accept- 
ance of the invitation would add nothing to the rich- 
ness of the feast. The fatlings are killed and the feast 
is prepared whether you go or not. Your presence 
would add nothing to the happiness of the guests at 
the supper. They will be quite as happy whether you 
are present or absent. Perhaps they will not miss you 
if you stay away. Their great love for you interests 
them for you now ; but when the door is shut, closing 
them in, and you out, they will weep for you no more. 
Their cup of bliss will be unmixed and full. The loss 
will be entirely yours. God can do without you — can 
you do without him ? Jesus Christ will be entirely 
happy, whether you are saved or lost. If you think 
he cannot administer the affairs of heaven without you, 
you are mistaken. He will allow you to be lost, if you 
are determined not to be saved. That is a matter about 
which every one is entirely free to decide for himself. 
One thing is certain, however, if you go to heaven, Je- 
sus Christ intends to conduct the train on which you 
go. If you take passage with any other conductor, you 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 275 

will get side-tracked, ditched, or wrecked most cer- 
tainly. To speak without a figure, Jesus proposes to 
save only those who come to God by him. While 
there is the slightest disposition to go to heaven in our own 
tcay we cannot be saved. There must be an unreserved 
and entire surrender to the Lord's will, or there is no 
salvation for any one. 

Hoio are Christians made partakers of the divine nature f 
Peter says that in the revealed knowledge of God " are 
given unto us exceeding great and precious promises ; that 
by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature." 
Ey a proper consideration of the great and precious 
promises revealed in the word of the Lord, we are 
drawn to God, and made partakers ot his nature, seen 
in the promises. Of these promises, there are so many 
that we can only present a few of them. 

(1) He has promised that he will never leave nor for- 
sake us while we walk uprightly before him. He will, 
in nothing, allow us to be tempted beyond our ability 
to bear, but in every trial he will be near us, to deliver 
us and make a way for our escape. If we put our hand 
in his, and allow him to lead us, he will keep our feet 
from sliding, and conduct us in the way of life ever- 
lasting. "What a blessed and precious promise is this ! 
How often do we feel our great weakness, and the need 
of a Father's care ! 

" Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, 
Pilgrim through this barren land ; 

I am weak but thou art mighty, 
Hold me with thy powerful hand." 

Martha said to Jesus: "Lord, if thou hadst been 
here, my brother had not died." John xi: 21. Like 
Martha, we feel safe when in company with, and led by 
the Savior. When the light of his word shines upon 



276 GOSPEL SERMON'S. 

our pathway, we feel sure that we cannot fall. When 
going by his direction, we feel sure that we are in his 
company. 

" I need thee every hour — teach me thy will, 

And thy rich promises, in me fulfill. 
I need thee, O, I need thee ; every hour I need thee, 

0, bless me now my Savior, I come to thee." 

O, Lord make us equal to the trials awaiting us, and 
all the duties assigned us. Thy will in all things be done. 

(2) '^ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with 
me ; thy ro,d and thy staff they comfort me." Ps. xxiii : 
4. The decree has gone forth, and is irrepealable, that 
dust we are and unto dust we must return ; but '' as in 
Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
1 Cor. XV : 22. God has promised that he will not for- 
get us in the tomb, but he will awaken our sleeping 
dust to live again, if worthy, in the glorified image of 
his Son. " For if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God 
bring with him." 1 Thess. iv : 14. 

" Asleep in Jesus ! blessed sleep, 
From which none ever wake to weep, 

A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes." 

Blessed promise — we shall live again. If this life 
were all there is for man, it would scarcely be worth 
the living. In many cases it were far better never to 
have lived. Life to many is a grievous misfortune, if 
there is nothing beyond death. Suffering, misery, vex- 
ation, and disappointment, with an intellect capable of 
appreciating his condition, without a ray of light, or a 
gleam of hope coming from beyond the grave ! Better 
have been a hrute^ without intelligent appreciation to aug- 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 277 

ment his suff'ering and intensify his miserable condition. 
Begone from me, thou most unwelcome thought. We 
have no time, space nor inclination to pursue the vile 
intrusion further here. 

(3) " Blessed are they that do his commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may 
enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. xxii : 
14. Our parents were driven from the presence of God, 
away from the tree of life, and out of the garden of Eden. 

Here, those who are faithfully obedient to the com- 
mandments of the Lord, are promised an entrance into 
the city of God, where God is — where Jesus is — where 
angels are — where the spirits of just men made perfect 
will ever be. They are promised a right to the tree of 
life from which our parents were driven, where they 
may pluck and eat of its life-giving fruit, and live for- 
ever, beyond the reach of pain, sickness, disease, and 
death ; provided^ that a restoration to the tree of life 
means a restoration to the privileges possessed by Adam 
and Eve before they were driven from it ; and we can- 
not see how such a privilege could mean less. They 
will be permitted to drink of the stream of life, which 
gurgles from beneath the throne of God, of which he 
that drinks will thirst no more. They will, with tongues 
immortal, engage with angels around the eternal throne 
in a new song of glory to God and to the Lamb for- 
ever and ever. 

Who has not felt his soul swell within him when list- 
ening to the songs of praise made by mortal tongues in 
the house of God on the Lord's day. If such be the 
effect of songs sung by mortal tongues on earth, what 
must be the character and effect of the sweeter strains 
made by tongues immortal, when singing the new song 
in the city of God ? Human imagination is lost in at- 



278 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

tempting to contemplate it. Are not- these " exceeding 
great and precious promises ? " They are given to us 
in the revealed knowledge of God ; and hy them Peter 
says we are made partakers of the divine nature. Is it 
not true that in feasting the soul on such promises, we 
drink copious drafts of the divine nature which streams 
through them ? Can we fail to gather spiritual strength 
as our hearts run out in gratitude to God for such man- 
ifestations of his love ? Can we not love our w^orst 
enemy in view of what God has done for man, when 
man was an. enemy to God ? What human nature re- 
fuses to do, the divine nature can do. 

These may well be called exceeding great and prec- 
ious promises; and by great and precious promises 
Peter says the disciples are made partakers of the di- 
vine nature ; but he does not say they are made partak- 
ers of the divine nature by promises only. Every princi- 
ple in the government of God which tends to restrain 
evil propensities, control appetites, moderate inordinate 
desires, subjugate angry passions and vicious inclina- 
tions on the one side, and cultivate love, mercy, kind- 
ness, gentleness, goodness, benevolence, holiness, and 
purity of heart on the other, is calculated to develop the 
divine nature in the Christian. The Christian religion 
is intended to make men and women like God ; and 
just as they are brought under the divine influence they 
are made partakers of the divine nature. " For as 
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons 
of God." Horn, viii : 14. 

" This I say then. Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall 
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth 
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and 
these are contrary the one to the other : so that ye can- 
not do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 279 

the Spirit, ye 'are not under the law. Now the works 
of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, 
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witch- 
craft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedi- 
tions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel- 
ings, and such like : of the which I tell you hefore, as I 
have also told you in time past, that they which do such 
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the 
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuifering, gen- 
tleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance : against 
such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we 
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Gal. 
v: 16-25. 

Quite a number of Scriptures might be cited, show- 
ing things to be avoided, and others to be cultivated ; 
but this is sufficient to give the thought we are seeking 
to bring out — viz : That we become partakers ot the 
divine nature by moulding our hearts, and controlling 
our actions in harmony with the divine will — by avoid- 
ing that which is wrong, till the disposition to do such 
things is crucified — banished from the heart, and we 
have no inclination to do that in which we once de- 
lighted ; and by faithfully doing that which the Lord 
requires, until the Lord's will becomes part of our na- 
ture ; and it becomes a pleasure to do that which was 
once repulsive to us. We can love to do things because 
we know it to be the Lord's will that we shall do them. 
"We can love our enemies because it gives us pleasure to 
do any thing that is well pleasing to God. Once it 
may have required constant watch care for one to avoid 
the use of profane language ; but he has cultivated him- 
self under the divine Spirit, ever present in the word of 
the Lord, until profanity is repulsive to his very nature. 



280 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Has he not partaken of the divine nature on this sub- 
ject ? and can we not see how he did it ? It was by 
training and educating himself on the subject of pro- 
fanity in harmony with the divine will ; and God has 
promised to bless those who trust in, and obey him on 
this, as in every thing else. Thus the promises of the 
Lord, relied upon, make us partakers of the divine na- 
ture, having escaped the corruption that is in the world 
through lust. 

" Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creat- 
ure : old things are passed away ; behold, all things are 
become new." 2 Cor. v: 17. " And be renewed in the 
Spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the new man, 
which after God is created in righteousness and true ho- 
liness." Eph. iv : 23, 24. " But now ye also put off all 
these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communi- 
cation out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, see- 
ing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds ; and 
have put on the new man, which is rencAved in knowl- 
edge after the image of him that created him." Col. 
iii: 8-10. 

These Scriptures show that the Christian is in Christ, 
and is a new creature. He has put off* the old man or 
character, and has put on the new man, which is re- 
newed in knowledge after the image of his Creator. He 
has put off the old behavior, and has been created in 
righteousness and true holiness. The elenients of the 
divine nature have been planted in his heart, and if cul- 
tivated and developed to perfection, he will be so com- 
pletely like God as to be happy in his presence, and fit 
for association with the redeemed in heaven. The 
Christian religion is intended to bring about this 
transformation, and without it man is wholly unfit for 
association with God, angels, and purified spirits above. 



THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE CHRISTIAN. 281 

Oh, what a world we should have if every one in it 
were a partaker of the divine nature, and guided wholly 
by the word of the Lord. All jails and penitentiaries 
would be pulled down and thrown away, and the praises 
of God would resound from pole to pole ; and love 
would fill every heart, and the glory of God would be 
sung by every tongue, and universal peace and happi- 
ness would fill the world. Why will not every man 
and every woman co-operate in bringing about such a 
glorious state of things on the earth ? God speed the 
day when even the church, in all its members, shall so 
appreciate the promises of God as to be made partakers 
of the divine nature, and be brought fully under its 
influence. We are persuaded that the world would 
feel its power as it has never felt tt before. 

" Precious promise God hath given, 

To the weary passer by ; 
On the way from earth to heaven, 

I will guide thee with mine eye.'* 



CHAPTER XVII. 



EXCUSES. 



" Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great 
snpper, and bade many : and sent his servant at supper 
time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all 
things are now ready. And they all with one consent be- 
gan to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have 
bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see 
it : I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I 
have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them : 
I pray thee have me excused. And another said, 1 have 
married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that 
servant came, and shewed his lord these things." 
Luke xiv: 16-24. 

IT is not our purpose to dwell upon the first invita- 
tion of the Jews to the privileges of the gospel, 
and the subsequent invitation of the long outcast Gen- 
tiles, compelled by earnest argument and entreaty to 
accept the salvation spurned by those so highly favored 
of God, as had been the Jcavs ; but we desire to draw a 
more practical lesson from the excuses rendered by those 
invited, for the benefit of those who are doing now as 
they did then — rendering frivolous excuses for not 
obeying the gospel, and accepting salvation under very 
favorable circumstances, when the dearest friends they 
have on earth so earnestly importune them to be saved. 
The excuses show very plainly that they were founded 
in hypocrisy, and prompted in an utter want of interest 
in the feast prepared for their entertainment. The first 
had bought a piece of ground and had to go and see 
(282) 



EXCUSES. 283 

it. Did lie buy a piece of ground without seeing it be- 
tbre he bought it ? It being real estate, it would hardly 
have run away until the next day. He could have gone 
to the supper if he had been anxious to honor the 
master by going. 

The next one had bought five yoke of oxen and had 
to go to prove them. Strange that he bought them 
without trying them before buying them. If he had 
been anxious to go to the supper to which he had been 
invited, he could have put off proving his oxen for an- 
other day. When persons do not wish to do a thing, it 
is quite easy to find some excuse for not doing it. 

But the next one had married a wife, and of course 
he could not go. He did not even ask to be ex- 
cused ; he c<)uld not go, and that was enough. He was 
newly married and could not, so soon, leave his wife 
long enough to go to a supper. But could he not have 
taken his wife with him ? From the general character 
of the invitation, we suppose the presence of ladies was 
not prohibited-; and the application of the lesson would 
show that the supper was for men and tvomen. True, 
the narrative says, " That none of those men which were 
bidden shall taste of my supper ; " but this only shows 
that the men were to blame for the non-attendance. 
There is nothing showing that this man might not 
have taken his wife with him to the supper. Had he 
been very anxious to go he could have gone. He felt 
no interest in honoring the master of the supper, and 
the master knew it, and was very angry. These flimsy 
excuses did not satisfy him. 

The excuses made by men to-day are no better than 
those made by the Jews. We will examine a few of 
them and see whether or not they are valid. 

(1) '' There are so many different doctrines preached 



284 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

that I do not know which is right. If wise men differ, 
iio w am I to decide which is right ? " The Bible is right, 
infallibly right. Have you ever taken that infallible 
standard and carefully examined it to see what is taught 
in it, that you might know who preached the truth ? 
We guess not. Is it not likely that you could live in 
any of the churches around you and do as well as you 
are doing now ? While it is a great misfortune that 
the religious world is split up into parties, and preach- 
ing different doctrines, that will scarcely justify you in 
refusing to read and study the Bible for yourself. There 
was never a counterfeit piece of money that was not an 
imitation of something genuine. So there may be 
many spurious religions in the world, but that very fact 
is evidence that there is something pure some where ; 
and if you will study the great counterfeit detecter, you 
will be very apt to find what is spurious, and what is 
genuine. Generally those who render this excuse do 
not care which is right. They are not anxious to know 
about it, and hence, do not try to know. 

(2) " If baptism is for the remission of sins, as you 
teach, then my parents are lost, for they were not bap- 
tized. My mother was a good woman, and I know she 
went to heaven without baptism. For me to be bap- 
tized for the remission of sins would be to say that 
my mother has gone to hell. I am not going to do 
that, sure. That settles it with me." 

Do you suppose that any thing you can do will change 
the condition of your dead mother one way or the other ? 
Suppose your mother did the best she knew, and God 
saved her because she did so, will he save you in neg- 
lect of your duty when you know it to be your duty ? 
Perhaps you have light that she never had. Perhaps 
she thought non-essential that which you know to be 



EXCUSES. 285 

a solemn command of God. Will he save you in known 
and willful neglect of duty, because your mother did 
not know it to be her duty ? If your mother did the 
best she knew, would it not be well for you to do the 
best you know? Whether your mother was lost or 
saved is not a matter regulating your duty. If you 
know your duty and do it not, you will be beaten with 
many stripes, while few may be the stripes coming to 
the lot of such as come short of their duty because they 
knew not what duty was. Do your own duty and let 
God attend to others. He will manage that matter as 
may be pleasing to him. 

(3) " I am better now than many who are in the 
church." Well, suppose you are ; perhaps you might 
improve on that a little. But why compare yourself 
with the worst in the church ? Suppose you put it this 
way : " I am better than any in the church." Do you 
think you could, in truth, say this ? If every one in 
the church goes to hell for neglect of duty, is that any 
reason why you should want to go ? Will that excuse 
you for neglect of duty ? If every man in the church 
goes to hell, if you icill, in good faith, do your duty, you 
will be saved. But '* you cannot live in the church with 
those bad men who are in it." Well, the Lord will take 
those wicked fellows out of the church after a while, 
and he will put them right into your company ; and 
you will have to spend eternity with them, if eternity 
may be spent. 'Twere better to come into the church 
and help to put those bad fellows out, then they will 
be out, and you in, and thus you will get rid of them. 
^ow, we respectfully suggest that the wickedness of 
others is no excuse for you. Do your own duty faith- 
fully and you will be saved, whatever may be the end 



286 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

of the wicked. "The wickedness of the wicked be upon 
him," is (xod's law. 

But are you not just a little inconsistent in rendering 
this excuse ? There are but two classes — those in the 
church, and those out of it. You belong to the class 
on the outside. Do you not think there are as bad men 
out of the church as can be found in it ? There are 
murderers, thieves^ robbers, liars, gamblers, whoremon- 
gers, sorcerers, and all other classes engaged in the 
whole dark catalogue of sin, among those out of the 
church ; and you can be quite contented to live 
with them out of the church, but you cannot afford 
to live with a few bad men in the church ! Do you not 
feel ashamed of such an excuse as this ? Better do your 
own duty, and let the Lard attend to the tares that the 
devil sowed among the wheat. This is safe — nothing 
else is. 

(4) " Well, I am a moral man. I use no profane lan- 
guage. I pay my debts promptly. I speak the truth 
always. I am as liberal in relieving the poor as any 
one in the church. I do not swindle, cheat, or steal. I 
try to make a good neighbor and a good citizen; and 
I see no use in joining the church. I cannot see that 
that would make me any better." Have you a firmly 
fixed and trusting faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior ? 
Jesus said, " he that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." If 
you have not been baptized you are not within range 
of the Savior's promise : and if you do not believe in 
Clirist, through the gospel, the anathemas of heaven 
will rest upon you if Jesus told the truth. 

Again Jesus said : " Except a man be born again he 
cannot enter the kingdom of God." Have you been 
born again ? ''Except a man be born of water and of 



EXCUSES. 287 

the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
Have you been born' of water and of the Spirit? If 
not, into the kingdom of God you cannot go. Jesus 
said this, and it must be true. In this kingdom is a 
state of safety — can a man be saved out of it ? If so, 
how? Why did not Mcodemus say : " Master, there is 
no necessity of entering the kingdom, seeing a man can 
be saved out of it as well as in it." If a man can get 
to heaven out of the kingdom he will be saved on a 
plan of his own, and he may give the glory to himself, 
and not to God. The blood of Christ had nothing to 
do with it, and therefore the blood of Christ was shed 
for nothing. If you can be saved without it, all others 
can. Cornelius was a devout man, and one that feared 
God with all his house, who gave much alms to the 
people and prayed to God always. Are you better than 
he was ? He had to hear words from Peter by which 
to be saved. (Acts xi : 14.) Jesus requires you to be- 
lieve and obey him ; you live every day in rebellion 
against him while you fail to obey him. Do you think 
it safe to live in rebellion against God? 

(5) " I am not good enough to obey the gospel and be 
a Christian." "Well, how long do you think it will re- 
quire for you to get to be good enough while you spend 
your time in serving the devil ? Is that not rather a 
slow way of improving much ? Jesus came not to call 
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. If you are a 
sinner you are among the class he came to save. Are 
you worse than the murderers of Jesus Christ ? If they 
could be saved, why may not you ? On the day of 
Pentecost Peter told the Jews that they had, with 
wicked hands crucified and slain the Lord Jesus Christ ; 
and yet many of them obeyed the Lord and were saved 
that day. It is difficult to conceive of any worse than 



288 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

they were ; and yet they were not required to mourn and 
weep, and wrestle with the Lord like Jacob did ; but 
when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ through 
Peter's preaching, and were cut to the heart by it, and 
cried out to know what to do, Peter told them to repent 
and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re- 
mission of sins ; and as many as gladly received his 
word were baptized and the same day added to the 
saved. !N"ow, if they could do this, why may not you 
do as they did, and be saved as they were ? 

" I want to feel like I am pardoned — my sins forgiven, 
before I am baptized." "Will you be sure you are par- 
doned when you feel like you are pardoned? Such 
feelings are the result of your faith. When you believe 
you are pardoned, you will feel like you are pardoned, 
whether you are pardoned or not. If you could be 
made believe, without a doubt, that when you shall 
have counted ten, you will be pardoned, when you have 
counted ten, you will feel just like you are pardoned. 
In other words, ivhenever a man does that lohich he be- 
lieves ivill secure Ms pardon, he will feel like he is jpardoned, 
Jacob believed Joseph was dead, when he was alive 
and governor of Egypt ; and while he believed his son 
to be dead, he felt just like he was really dead. A 
falsehood believed, will produce the same feelings that would 
follow from the belief of the same thing if it ivere true. 
"When, therefore, you believe you are pardoned, you 
will feel like you are pardoned, whether you are par- 
doned or unpardoned. WTien the Catholic pays his 
money to the priest to absolve him from guilt, or secure 
his pardon, he feels like he is pardoned ; and he feels like 
it because he believes it. So the heathen man, who bows 
before his idol god, feels like he is pardoned for the 
very same reason. Are not his feelings as reliable as 



EXCUSES. 289 

yours f Why not ? We confess we can see no reason why. 

But you say : " He is deceived, for his idol god has 
no power to pardon him." Very true indeed ; but he 
thinks his god has the power, and believing this, he 
feels just as happy as you do. If his feelings deceive 
him, may not your feelings deceive you ? Jesus said : *' He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." If you 
are saved before you are baptized, for what will you 
then be baptized ? Jesus did not say : " He that be- 
lieveth and is saved, may, or should be baptized." 
Had he said this, your position might have been plaus- 
ible ; but as he did not say it, your position is unreas- 
onable and absurd. Better accept salvation as it is 
offered to you by him who has the power to save you. 

Since the last will went into force on the day of Pen- 
tecost, there is not a case of conversion recorded, where 
the converted rejoiced in his pardon before he was baptized 
— not one. The Eunuch went on his way rejoicing 
after he was baptized. Acts viii: 39. The jailer re- 
joiced in his salvation after his baptism. Acts xvi : 34. 
A man may well feel like he is pardoned when he 
knows he has complied with all the conditions upon 
which Jesus said he should be saved ; but until then 
his feelings may deceive him, however honest he may be 
in relying upon them. 

We feel good because we know we are pardoned ; 
and we know we are pardoned because we know we 
have obeyed the Lord. You want your good feelings 
as evidence of your pardon before obedience, when in 
truth good feelings should spring from a knowledge 
of pardon, based upon obedience to the commands, and 
a firm reliance on the promises contained in the word 
of the Lord. The child feels good when it knows it 
has obeyed its parents, so we feel good when we know 
19 



290 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

we have obeyed the Lord ; and, as his children, may 
call him " our Father." We feel good because we know 
we are pardoned — you knoio you are pardoned because 
you feel good. This is the real difference. We sub- 
mit the two positions for your very careful considera- 
tion. One, or the other, may be true — both cannot be. 
You can decide which. 

(6) " I don't know enj^ugh yet." How much do you 
know ? Do you know that you are a sinner, and in 
need of a Savior ? Do you know that Jesus died to 
save sinners, and that he proposes to save all who 
come to God by him ? Do you know what he requires 
you to do in order that he may save you ? If you do, 
you know enough to be saved : and you will be lost if 
you fail to do that which you know to be your duty. 
You are required to grow in grace and in knowledge ; and 
there could be no growth in knowledge if you knew 
every thing at the beginning. 

There is no age specified in the Bible at which chil- 
dren may obey the gospel. This very much depends 
on their general intelligence and their opportunities of 
obtaining a knowledge of the Lord's will. Some chil- 
dren at ten years old know more of the Bible than some 
men ever learn. As soon as they know their duty they 
are old enough to obey the Lord, and they will be lost 
if they fail to render the obedience which the gospel re- 
quires. They can then render the obedience- of faith, and 
until this can be done no obedience is worth any thing. 

(7) " I am afraid I cannot hold out faithful, and I 
do not want to bring reproach upon the cause of 
Christ." This is a laudable feeling. Surely no one de- 
sires to bring reproach upon the cause of the Master, 
but we think it likely that those most fearful of bring- 
ing reproach are most secure against it. They will be 



EXCUSES. 291 

more careful in exercising a watcli-care over them- 
selves, and will therefore be less liable to fall than the 
self-confident, who will be more reckless and less safe. 
With faith and trust in God, and constant prayer for 
success, the humble soul will not fail. 

(8) " There is time enough yet. I am young and 
have not enjoyed myself enough. By and by, when 
my cup of pleasure is full, I w^ill obey the Lord " A 
w'ise man said : '' Eemember now thy Creator in the 
days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor 
the years draw nigh, wdien thou shalt say, I have 
no pleasure in them." Eccl. xii : 1. ' It is not the 
cross, nor does it -cost the struggle to surrender to 
the Lord in youth that it costs those who have been 
hardened in sin. Li youth, as a rule, vicious habits 
have not been formed, and there is but little refor- 
mation to make ; the heart is not all scarred up by 
indulgence in crime. The aflections are tender and 
readily moulded in love for a crucified Savior. But 
how hard it is to turn back from a life of indulg- 
ence in sin; and alas! how few there are who ever 
come to Jesus in old age. It is hard to give up hab- 
its so long indulged. How ungrateful it is to give 
the strength of manhood to the devil, and blow the 
ashes from the candle of life into the face of the Lord 
wdien the hardened old wretch can serve the devil no 
longer ! But my young friend, while you are indulging 
in your career of pleasure, suppose death should knock 
at your door ! You are expecting to live a long time, 
but you may die to-day. Though your cheeks may 
bloom in the rose tints of health and youthful vigor, 
death may already have marked you as his own. To- 
day is the day of salvation. ISTow is the accepted time. 
To-morrow to you may never come. And if you knew 



292 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

you would live to be old, you owe all to the service of 
God. You can never repay God for what he has done 
for you. You will never regret an early obedience to 
God — you may have eternity in which to regret that 
you did not honor God when you had an opportunity 
to do so. Don't delay — come to Jesus and come now. 

(9) " Well, but I have not made money enough yet. 
I know that my business is contrary to the spirit and 
genius of the Christian religion, and I am in debt, and 
cannot give up my business yet. Or, I have not as 
much land as I want, and I cannot afford to give up my 
business until I make my contemplated purchase. 
When I make enough I will consider the subject of re- 
ligion." In the first place, you should not want to 
make money by such immoral business. I^o man should 
want money made by dishonest or immoral means. We 
know nothing about repentance that does not repair 
damages done, or restore all ill-gotten gains to the full 
extent of his ability. We cannot see how a man can 
truly repent with money in his pocket obtained in this 
way. It is unsafe to risk it. 

We can readily conceive it possible for a man to in- 
considerately pursue an immoral calling and truly repent 
and come to Christ for pardon ; but for him to deliber- 
ately resolve to indulge in wrong-doing in the hope of 
washing out the stains in the blood of a crucified Sav- 
ior, and keep what he has made in his unholy call- 
ing, is putting the grace and mercy of God to a strain 
that is extremely dangerous, to say the least of it. We 
dare not say that all possibility of repentance is gone ; 
but such deliberate resolve is infinitely worse than the 
overt acts committed in pursuance of the resolve. We 
earnestly hope that few have reached the degree of de- 
pravity capable of such a resolve. The risk is surely a 



EXCUSES. 293 

fearful one. There is little chance for him to be saved. 
(10) " But another says ; " I am waiting for others. 
I want my friend to go with me. I want my wife to go 
with me, or, I want my husband to go with me when I 
go to the Savior." This is a mistaken policy. If you 
wish your friend to obey the Lord through your influ- 
ence, it is better to set him an example worthy of his 
imitation. This is far better. It shows that you are in 
earnest — that you intend to be honest with your God, 
yourself, and your friend. We have often seen wives 
who seemed to be more concerned for their husbands 
than for themselves ; and in the hope of inducing them 
to obey the Lord they have lived in disobedience them- 
selves, when if they had gone along and met their own 
obligations to God, their influence would have been 
much more potent in bringing their husbands to a dis- 
charge of their duty. And the same is true of husbands 
with regard to their wives. But the whole procedure 
is wrong. "No one should trifle with his salvation in 
that way. He should do his own duty and let conse- 
quences take care of themselves. He cannot afford to 
risk his own salvation to save any one, even though it 
be the dearest friend he has on earth. Suppose the person 
should die while waiting tor a companion, would wait- 
ing for a companion be a valid excuse in the day of 
judgment? It looks a little like the man who had mar- 
ried a wife and could not go to the supper. But there 
is a principle behind all this. You owe the service of 
your whole life to God ; and you have no right to with- 
hold any part of that service in waiting on any one ; 
nor have you any right to contract with any one about 
your duty to your God. " I will go if you will." If 
you love your friend better than your God, you are un- 
worthy of him, and you are not in a suitable frame of 



294 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

mind to obey God in aDything. Better stay away until 
you can rise above this. Were you to go to the Lord 
in such a frame of mind as this, you might find yourself 
in the attitude of the man who went in to the marriage 
supper not having on a wedding garment. 

(11) " My parents and friends are all opposed to that 
church. I believe it right myself, but I ought to obey 
my parents, and they would be greatly offended were I 
to join the Campbellites." TTell, suppose you simjply 
obey the gospel without joining the Campbellites. 
We know but little about these Campbellites any way. 
They must be very bad people, for we have never heard 
any thing good of them. All the reports that come to 
us concerning them are decidedly unfavorable, and we 
would not encourage an alliance with them, unless an 
earnest and hearty obedience to God should put you in 
company with them. This could not be unless they are 
doing the same thing ; and if they are thus faithfully 
obedient to God, they are not quite so bad as reported. 
If you will faithfully obey the Lord, these unworthy 
Campbellites cannot hurt you, however bad they may 
be. It is true that you should obey your parents ; but 
only when parental authority is in harmony with the 
law of God. If parental authority comes in conflict 
with God's authority, then obey God rather than the 
parents. Suppose your parents should command you 
to steal, when God says, " thou shalt not steal," what 
then ? Will you steal in obedience to your parents, 
or refuse to steal in obedience to God ? " But my par- 
ents will not require me to steal."' Yery well, this set- 
tles the principle. 

You will obey your parents until their will comes in 
conflict with the Lord's will. If your parents under- 
take to control your obedience to God, you will obey 



EXCUSES. 295 

God and take the consequences. They cannot obey 
God tor you. You are responsible for yourself, and 
will be judged for yourself. Jesus said: " He that lov- 
eth father or mother more than me is unworthy of me." 
If it becomes necessary to forsake all for Jesus' sake, 
then the sacrifice must be made. All things will work 
together for your good, if you will do your duty faith- 
fully. Your obedience may lead your obdurate parents 
to repentance. If not, j^ou will at least save yourself. 

(12) " This religion is unpopular. The people are 
not fashionable. It will injure me in my business." 
Yes, the preaching of ^oah was very unpopular. 
Only his own family gave attention to it in one hundred 
and twenty years. Yet, of all the world, only these 
eight souls were saved. Would you have preferred the 
fate of the popular world rather than the salvation of 
Koah? Jesus was exceedingly unpopular. He con- 
sorted with the poor. The aristocracy would have 
nothing to do with him. He preached to the poor and 
the illiterate, and of them selected his apostles ; yet they 
were able to confound and put to silence the wisdom of 
the wise. The poor and despised Lazarus was carried 
by angels to the bosom of Abraham, while the rich 
man opened his eyes in the flames of hell. Who 
would you rather be, the rich man, or the poor Lazarus? 

Paul said : " The fashion of this world passeth away." 
1 Cor. vii: 31. And James said : " Let the brother of 
low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, 
in that he is made low : because as the flower of the 
grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner 
risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, 
and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the 
fashion of it perisheth : so also shall the rich man fade 
away in his ways." James i : 9-11. 



296 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Let us not seek the fashion of the world that passeth 
away like the grace of the flower under the burning 
heat of the mid-day sun; so also shall the rich man 
fade away in his ways. Let us not be conformed to this 
world, but be clothed with that humility that charac- 
terized the meek and lowly Son of God. IsTo matter 
what the world may say of us, if God be for us, who 
can be against us ? "I will not be afraid of ten thou- 
sands of people, that have set themselves against me 
round about." Ps. iii : 6. '' Better is little with the 
fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble there- 
with." Prov. XV ; ,16. 

Suppose that obedience to the gospel does injure 
you in your business ; then let your business go. Obey 
God and let business take care of itself. There are very 
few that do not prefer to do business with an honest 
Christian man. Some customers may withdraw their 
patronage on account of your religion, but you will gain 
two more for every one you lose. And if you do not, 
you cannot aflbrd to barter your soul for business. If 
you gain the whole world and lose your soul, what will 
you give in exchange for it ? " Because thou sayest, I 
am rich, and increased with goods, and have need ot 
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and 
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked : I counsel 
thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may- 
est be rich." Eev. iii: 17, 18. 

Paul told Timothy to " charge them that are rich in 
this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in 
uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us 
richly all things to enjoy ; that they do good, that they 
be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to 
communicate ; laying up in store for themselves a good 
foundation against the time to come, that they may lay 



EXCUSES. 297 

hold on eternal life." 1 Tim. vi : 17-19. This is safe. 

The riches of this world are uncertain. They are liahle 
to be blown away by the first adverse wind that comes ; 
but God gives us the true riches that endure unto eter- 
nal life. " He that oppresseth the poor to increase his 
riches, and he that giveth to the rich shall surely come 
to want." Prov. xxii : 16. 

(13) " I have not time to be a Christian now — I am 
too busy. When I have leisure, I will consider the 
subject of religion." Yes, you are very busy — do you 
think you can take time to die when death comes ? 
You are like Martha, cumbered about with many 
things ; but Jesus said that Mary had chosen the good 
part that should never be taken away from her. The 
seed that fell among thorns were choked out by the 
cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, and 
they brought no fruit to perfection. Jesus told the 
Jews to seek first the kingdom of God and his right- 
eousness, and other things should be added ; but you 
propose to reverse his rule and begin at the other end, 
leaving the kingdom of God to be sought at the last. 
Yes, you propose to serve the devil as long as you can, 
and when jon can serve him no longer, then you will 
say : " Here Lord, take me. I am very busy, it is true, 
but I can do no more just now, so I guess I will surrender. 
Here I am, take me." Of course, no one says this in 
words, but the lives of many do say it Oh, the depth 
of such ingratitude ! God loved them, and Jesus died 
for them, and yet they expect to be saved after spend- 
ing their manhood in rebellion against God ! Can 
this be ? If so, they may, every one, sing, 

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, 
That saved a wretch like me." 

We think it likely that procrastination has sent more 



298 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

souls to bell than any other one thing that has ever 
cursed the race. Few men have ever gone down to the 
grave unprepared, who had not intended at some time 
to be Christians ; but from one cause and another have 
put it off and neglected it till too late. In full view of 
all their responsibility they have drifted down the 
stream of life to the end, until the harvest was passed, 
the summer ended, opportunities all gone, and nothing 
done. All acknowledge such a course unwise, and un- 
safe, but thousands go through life just this way. They 
take the risk, and a fearful risk it is. Whenever a man 
has opportunity to obey the gospel and he fails to do it, 
he takes his salvation in his own hands, with all the 
risk attaching to it. If he lives to have other opportu- 
nities, he is fortunate if he accepts them ; but if he falls 
into conditions which put it out of his power to obe}^ 
he can scarcely hope that God will excuse him for 
slighting the opportunities of the past. When he had 
the privilege, then was the time he should have accepted 
it ; and as he did not, in vain may he call for mercy 
when the time has been passed in rebellion against his 
Maker. The eternal principles of justice can only be 
vindicated in his punishment, and punished he will 
surely be. In the Hebrew letter the soul-stirring ques- 
tion is asked : "How shall we escape if we neglect so 
great salvation." !N"eglect may make escape impossi- 
ble. Oh, then, do not neglect your duty another day. 
Remember that the lord of the supper said that not one 
of those who made excuse should taste of his supper, 
for they were unworthy. Will you not be unworthy to 
go into the marriage supper of the lamb ? And think 
you that your excuses will be worth any more than 
theirs? " Where there is a Avill there is a way." They 
who want to come to Christ always find a way to come. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven 
and earth is named." Eph, iii: 14, 15. 

BY this text we clearly learn two things — (1) that 
God has a family ; (2) that part of them are on 
this earth and part in heaven, and this was true at the 
time the apostle wrote this letter to the Ephesians. 
That living Christians are God's family on the earth is 
so very generally admitted as to scarcely need proof. 
John says: " Behold, what manner of love the Father 
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the 
sons of God : therefore the world knoweth ns not, be- 
cause it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : 
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be 
like him ; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John iii : 1, 
2. '' Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be 
called the children of God." Matt, v: 9. "For as 
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons 
of God." " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
spirit, that we are the children of God." Rom. viii : 
14, 16. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in 
Christ Jesus." Gal. iii : 26. These Scriptures, with 
many others which might be given, so clearly identify 
that portion of God's family which is on the earth, 
that we need not spend more time looking for them. 
We propose to seek an acquaintance with that part of 

(299) 



300 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the family which were in heaven at the time the apos- 
tles wrote, whence they came, how long they had been 
there, and what they were doing — in a word, every 
thing we may know of them. 

First, then, was that portion of God's family which 
were in heaven at the time the apostle wrote, made 
up of the saints who had lived, died, been judged and 
glorified before then ? We think not. '' Because he 
hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the 
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath or- 
dained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all 
men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." 
Acts xvii : 31. 

We take it that this day was appointed as a time 
for the judgment of all men, without regard to the time 
in which they lived. That it was not appointed as a 
day in which to judge only those who might be living 
at that time, is evident from the language of Jesus 
himself. He says : " Marvel not at this : for the hour 
is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall 
hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have 
done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that 
have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." 
John v : 28, 29. This resurrection reaches those who 
are in their graves, and brings them up for judgment. 

Again : " And I saw a great white throne, and him 
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven 
fled away ; and there was found no place for them. 
And 1 saw the dead, small and great, stand before 
God ; and the books were opened : and another book 
was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead 
were judged out of those things which were written 
in the books, according to their works. And the sea 
gave up the dead which were in it: and death and 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 301 

hell delivered up the dead which were in them : and 
they were judged every man according to their works." 
Rev. XX : 11-13. This brings the dead — all the dead, 
to judgment. Then the family was not composed of 
those who had lived and died on the earth, for they had 
not been judged when Paul wrote. 

That all men do not immediately go to heaven or hell 
at death, is further evident from the fact that David had 
been dead and buried more than a thousand years be- 
fore the day of Pentecost ; yet, on that day, Peter said : 
" David is not ascended into the heavens." Acts ii : 34. 
K David, a man after God's own heart, did not go di- 
rect to heaven at death, who else may expect to go? 

But let us hear Peter further on this subject. He 
says : ^* The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with 
a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall 
be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall 
be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in 
all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and 
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the 
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the ele- 
ments shall melt with fervent heat ? " 2 Peter iii : 10- 
12. The day of the Lord— what day ? " But the heav- 
ens and the earth, which are now, by the same word 
are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of 
judgment and perdition of ungodly men." v. 7. This 
day^ to which the heavens and the earth are reserved, is 
here called the " day of the Lord," " day of God," " day 
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Hence 
the apostle says : " The Lord knoweth how to deliver 
the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust 
unto the day of judgment to be punished." 2 Pet. ii : 9. 



302 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

This settles the question. There is awaiting all men 
a day of judgment, when the Unal doom of the wicked 
will come upon them, and the righteous will receive 
their reward. But a general day of judgment would be 
a most ridiculous farce if men should have to be brought 
back from heaven and hell to be re-sentenced to the 
same positions in which they have been before. 

Enoch and Elijah were taken alive to heaven, and 
many of the saints were raised when Christ arose, but 
these were exceptions — not the rule. The rich man and 
Lazarus are supposed to show a diflerent theory. The 
only thing necessary in understanding that case, is to 
learn whether that was a literal past event, or was it a 
parable. If it was a literal description of a literal past 
event, then the whole doctrine of a general day of judg- 
ment for all men is false ; for the judgment was passed 
as to them, certainly. And worse still, heaven and hell 
will be in sight of each other, and the wicked and 
righteous will be talking across the line ; and heaven 
will be made vocal with the cries and groans of the 
damned in hell, which may be heard across the line. 
There is no escape from this if the case of the rich man 
and Lazarus was a literal description of a literal past 
event. That it loas a parable, we think is beyond dis- 
pute ; and hence, like all other parables, it was intended 
to illustrate a single thought ; and must not be strained 
beyond the one thing taught in it. Then it cannot ap- 
ply to the case in hand at all, unless that be shown to 
be the point in the parable. This will scarcely be at- 
tempted by any one. 

But we have not yet found that portion of God's 
family who were in heaven at the time Paul wrote. 
Let us try again. " Take heed that ye despise not one 
of these little ones ;^for I say unto you. That in heaven 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 303 

their angels do always behold the face of my Father 
which is ill heaven." Matt xviii : 10. 

And again : " But of that day and hour knoweth 
no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father 
only." Matt, xxiv : 36. 

These Scriptures, with many others which might be 
given, show that there are angels in heaven, and of 
them we shall learn more as we proceed. We think 
it likely that they were the chief portion of the family 
in heaven at the time the apostle wrote. Of this, how- 
ever, each one will think for himself. We are now 
fully introduced to the subject of 

ANGELS, 

and with them we propose to cultivate an acquaintance 
for a time. 

Besides the heavenly or celestial angels already seen, 
there are also eMrthly^ or terrestrial angels, which are 
simply messengers ; examples of which we have in the 
angels of the seven churches of Asia. Rev. ii : 8, 12, 
18. iii : 1, 7,14. And there are also infernal angels, or 
such as wait upon and serve the devil. Those infernal 
angels were once in heaven. " And there was war in 
heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the 
dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels, and 
prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more 
in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that 
old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiv- 
eth the whole world : he was cast out into the earth, and 
his angels were cast out with him." After describing 
the means by which the devil was overcome and cast 
out of heaven into the earth, with all his angels, the 
result is indicated. " Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and 
ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the 



004 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto 
you." Rev. xii : 7-9, 12. Jesus said to his disciples: 
" I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Luke 
x: 18. 

We propose to dismiss the devil and his angels here, 
at least for the present — indeed, we do not care .to cul- 
tivate a very intimate acquaintance with them. We 
wish to know more of the angels of heaven, believing, 
as we do, that they constitute the major part of the 
heavenly family. 

WERE THEY CREATED, OR WERE THEY ETERNAL ? 

" For by him were all things created, that are in 
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, 
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, 
or powers : all things were created by him, and for 
him." Col. i : 16. See also Eph. iii : 9. Heb. i : 2. 
John i : 3. 

This is certainly broad enough to include angels, for 
it includes every thing in the heavens above, or on the 
earth beneath; visible or invisible, dominions, princi- 
palities, or powers, all things were created^ hence God 
only was eternal. This shows that angels were created^ 
whether they be in heaven, earth, or hell. 

WHEN WERE THEY CREATED? 

iN'ot in the six days ot creation ; for every thing is 
mentioned that was created on each day, and yet we 
have no account of the creation of angels or devils. As 
soon as God left man in the garden, under law, we find 
the devil there, and at work ; and we know that there 
were good angels as soon as there were bad ones; for 
we have already seen that there was war in heaven, be- 
tween the good and the bad angels, which resulted in 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 305 

casting out the devil and his angels to the earth; hence 
unless the devil, by some strategy, got back into heaven, 
that war was anterior to the devil's operations in the 
garden of Eden. Therefore we conclude that the crea- 
tion of angels, good and bad, must have been before 
the creation recorded by Moses. 

God said to Job: "Where wast thou when I laid 
the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast un- 
derstanding. "Who hath laid the measures thereof, if 
thou knowest ? or who hath stretched the line upon it ? 
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened ? or 
who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning 
stars sang together, and all .the sons of God shouted for 
joy." Job xxxviii : 4-7. 

Who were the so72s of God who shouted for joy when 
God laid the foundations of the earth ? Those who 
deny angelic existence before the creation of Adam are 
at sea here, without chart or compass. They are hope- 
lessly engulfed in the Stygian waters of infidelity. The 
truth gets into no such trouble, as we will see directly. 

We have spoken of good and bad angels as created 
beings. By this we would not be understood to say 
that bad angels were bad when created ; on the contrary 
all were good when created ; but they were placed under 
law, which some kept and remained good, while others 
rebelled against God and violated his law, thereby mak- 
ing themselves bad. This we now propose to prove. 

" And the angels which kept not their first estate, but 
left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlast- 
ing chains under darkness unto the judgment of the 
great day." Jude 6. These angels had an estate and a 
habitation, else God would scarcely punish them for 
leaving the one, and failing to keep the other. 

Peter is equally clear on this subject. He says: "For 
20 



306 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- 
ness, to be reserved unto judgment." This hypothet- 
ical case is so put as to assume it to be true. 2 Pet. ii : 
4. Peter assumes that they were not spared because they 
sinned. Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 
iii : 4. Where there is no law there is no transgression. 
E-om. iv: 15. Hence, these angels that sinned were 
under law and violated it, thereby making themselves 
bad, and subject to punishment. 

But we have said others obeyed the law and remained 
good. David says : '' Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that 
excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearken- 
ing unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all 
ye his hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure." 
Ps. ciii: 20,21. 

John says : " And I John am he that heard and saw 
these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down 
to worship before the feet of the angel which showed 
me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do it 
not. I am a fellow servant with thee, and with thy 
brethren the prophets, and with them which keep the 
words of this book. "Worship God." Rev. xxii : 8, 9. 
Neio Version. 

These quotations show that angels were under law in 
the days of David and John ; and there was, perhaps, 
never a time when they were without law. We pre- 
sume they are under law now, and will ever be. We 
have seen that some sinned in violating the law, and 
others were obedient to it. This, we think, the proofs 
cited clearly show. 

But our question is not yet answered. When were 
angels created f We reply that we do not certainly know 
We can only reason about it — that is all. We have 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 307 

found that they loere created — not eternal. We think we 
may feel pretty sure that they were created belore the 
fall of Adam, for the devil was there, an active agent 
in that event; and the sons of God shouted for joy 
when the foundations of the earth were laid, before 
there was a man on the earth. We think we may feel 
pretty sure that they were not created in the six days 
of creation, for we have every thing mentioned that 
filled up the work of each day. Tlieh we repeat our 
question — when were they created ? 

We have seen that a day will come, in which the 
heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the ele- 
ments will melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and 
the works that are therein shall be burned up. " E"ev- 
ertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new 
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- 
ness." 2 Pet. iii : 13. 

l!^ow, as this state of existence will fill its God-ap- 
pointed mission and come to an end, to be succeeded by 
another, may we not justly conclude, that it was jpre- 
ceded by another, perhaps by others May it not be 
true that a state analogous to the present state preceded 
our creation, in which intelligent beings existed under 
law, as we exist under law — that that state filled its 
mission, was brought to a close, and was succeeded by the 
present state ; as the present state will be brought to a 
close and be succeeded by the new heavens and the new 
earth ? The angels of the present state were perhaps 
the inhabitants of the previous state, and were ready 
for service before the creation described by Moses. The 
holy were the sons of God " who rejoiced when the 
works of God were complete in the creation ; and the 
devil was the leading spirit among the wicked, ready to 
deceive our parents in the garden of Eden as soon 



308 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

as they were left under law, as he had been. This 
theory is plausible — we do not claim it to be certainly 
true. We only say we believe it is true. 

It is sometimes claimed that avgels are the spirits of 
those 2vho have lived and died in the present state ; but 
this theory breaks down in the operations of the devil 
in thei garden before the death of any one whose spirit he 
could have been. And this theory is unable to account 
for the sons of God spoken of by God to Job, who re- 
joiced when the foundations of the earth were laid. A 
theory so manifestly defective can scarcely be true. 

We cannot very readily conclude that the devil ex- 
isted as a fallen angel before there were any other an- 
gels. We very soon find the angels of the Lord en- 
gaged in his service, and the Bible is as silent as to their 
creation, as it is with reference to the creation of the 
devil. And as he existed before the death of any hu- 
man being, we think it likely that good angels were at 
least co-existent with him. Hence, we are not pre- 
pared to believe that angels are the spirits of those who 
have lived and died on this earth as it now is. We can- 
not resist, therefore, the conclusion that angels, good 
and bad, existed in some form anterior to the creation 
of Adam. One thing is certain, they are here; and have 
been here from a period more remote than any record 
we have. It becomes us as students of the Bible to 
learn what is revealed concerning them: We think 
they will be found very important agents in conducting 
the aflairs of God's universe, perhaps both spiritual and 
physical. 

In their usual, or, if you please, normal state, they are 

INVISIBLE TO UNAIDED HUMAN VISION. 

A few examples illustrative of this are all for which 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 300 

we have room. The beast on which Balaam rode was 
permitted to see the angel that stood in the way, but 
Balaam could not see him without divine aid. " Then 
the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the 
angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword 
drawn in his hand." Num. xxii : 31. Balaam's un- 
aided human eye could not see the angel, though it was 
in the way before him, and even visible to the beast 
on which he rode. Whether the beast was aided by 
divine power in seeing the angel or not, we cannot 
know certainly. 

When Elisha was in Dothan the king of Syria sent 
a great army to take him. " And when the servant of 
the man of Glod was risen early, and gone forth, behold, 
an host compassed the city both with horses and 
chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my 
master ! how shall we do ? And he answered. Fear not : 
for they that be with us are more than they that be 
with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray 
thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord 
opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw : and, 
behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of 
fire round about Elisha." 2 Kings vi : 15-17. That 
these horses and chariots of fire were angelic, would 
seem scarcely to admit of doubt ; and the young man's 
natural eyes, unaided by divine power, could not see 
them, though the mountain was full of them, all 
around him. 

" The angel of the Lord encampeth round about 
them that fear him, and delivereth them." Psa. xxxiv : 
9. Though the Psalmist may have had direct reference 
to the deliverance of Elisha seen above, yet he makes a 
general statement without specifications, leaving us to 
infer that the rule would apply to all who fear the 



310 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Lord. Tliej are constantly surrounded by angels in- 
visible to tbem. Wliat a consolation to know that God 
has made such wonderful provisions for the protection 
and deliverance of his children in times of danger and 

^^^ ^* WHAT IS THEIR FORM ? 

Angels are capable of assuming any form in which 
God is pleased to employ them. We have just seen 
them as horses and chariots of fire, encamped around about 
Elisha. Another example similar, maybe found in the 
account of Elijah's ascent to heaven. 2 Kings ii : 11. 
Another example w^as witnessed by Moses. " And the 
angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of 
fire out of the midst of the bush ; and he looked, and 
behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was 
not consumed." Ex. iii : 2. Here the angel appeared 
in a flame of fire. 

" And of the angels he saith. Who maketh his angels 
spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." Heb. i : 7. 
These Scriptures show that God employed his angels 
in the appearance of fire when he saw fit to do so. 

THEY OFTEN APPEARED AS MEN. 

We think it likely that angels more frequently ap- 
peared as men than in any other form. "• And the 
Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre : and 
he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day ; and he lifted 
up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him : 
and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the 
tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground." Gen. 
xviii: 1, 2. These three angels, in the appearance of 
men, refreshed themselves with Abraham as men, they 
detected Sarah's falsehood, they gave assurance to Abra- 
ham that his wife should have a son, and they also made 



AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 311 

known to him God's purpose to visit and destroy the 
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Two of these men, as 
they seemed to be, went on to Sodom and w^ere enter- 
tained by Lot. '' And there came two angels to Sodom 
at even ; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom ; and Lot 
seeing them rose up to meet them ; and he bowed him- 
self with his face toward the ground." Gen. xix : 1, 2. 
In verses ten and twelve these angels are called men. 

The angel that appeared to Manoah's w^ife, and then 
to him, announcing the birth of Samson, w^as in the ap- 
pearance of a man. Judge xiii : 6-13. The angel that 
made known to the women at the sepulchre the res- 
urrection of Jesus, was a young man. Mark xvi : 5. 
Matt, xxviii : 5. The two angels who proclaimed the 
return of Jesus to the disciples, who witnessed his as- 
cension from the summit of Mount Olivet, were in the 
appearance of men, clothed in wdiite apparel. Acts 

^ * ' * ANGELIC ATTRIBUTES. 

They were wme, but not omniscient. The destroying 
angel that smote, wdth death, the first born of every 
family in Egypt, save the Hebrews, on the night of the 
departure of the children of Israel, had to have, or did 
have, a sign by which to know the houses of the He- 
brews from those of the Egyptians. Had they been 
omniscient^ they would have known the houses of the 
Hebrews without the blood on the door-posts and lin- 
tels to assure them that a Hebrew lived there. 

When the Jews wanted to know the time of Christ's 
second coming, he said : " But of that day and hour 
knoweth no man, no not the angels in heaven, but my 
Father only." Matt, xxiv: 36. Here is a specifi- 
cation of one thing which angels did not know. We 
are not left to inferential reasoning about this, but the 



312 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

fact is plainly stated that the angels in heaven know 
nothing about when the Savior will come again to the 
earth. This settles the question of angelic omniscience. 
Much more proof might be furnished, but we have not 
room for it, nor do we deem it at all necessary. They 
know what God reveals to them — no more. 

THEY ARE NOT OMNIPRESENT. 

They were capable of rapid motion, capable of pass- 
ing over any space in an inconceivably short time, but 
they had to go to a place when it was necessary for them 
to be there. They ivent to visit Abraham. They iveiit 
down to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy them and 
save Lot. The angel of death passed through the whole 
land of Egypt, so as to smite with death at midnight the 
first born in every house. " There was not a house in 
which there was not one dead." Ex. xii : 29, 30. 

" And while I was speaking, and praying, and con- 
fessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and pre- 
senting my supplication before the Lord my God for 
the holy mountain of my God ; yea, while I was speak- 
ing in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen 
in the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched 
me about the time of the evening oblation. And he 
informed me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth 
to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning 
of thy supplication the commandment came forth, and 
I am come to show thee ; for thou art greatly beloved : 
therefore understand the matter, and consider the vis- 
ion." Dan, ix: 20-23. 

Here we find the angel Gabriel is called the '' man 
Gabriel." In appearing to Zacharias he is called "the 
angel Gabriel." Luke i : 26. By the appearing of 
Gabriel to Daniel, we learn that he was caused to Jly 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 313 

swiftly, startiug from the presence of God (Gabriel stands 
in the presence of God. Luke i : 9.) at the beginning 
of Daniel's prayer, and reaching him before his prayer 
ended. He came in obedience to command — was sent. 
Hence the litness of David's remark — the angels that do 
his commandments. He came to bring information to 
Daniel. Daniel was an inspired man — could not God 
have given this message to him without the agency of 
an angel? We know not what God could have done, 
but of one thing we are sure ; he did employ an angel 
to carry and deliver the message. He did send this 
same messenger to Zacharias. And the angel answering 
said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence 
of God ; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show 
you these glad tidings." Luke i : 19. Thus we see 
that Gabriel's place was in the presence of God, and he 
was sent — had to go to parties with communications from 
God. He loas not, therefore, omnipresent. Let us not 
forget this. We may have use for it again. 

" And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, 
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that 
dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, 
and tongue, and people. Rev. xiv : 6. Here we find 
another angel flying in the midst of heaven, showing 
that though capable of rapid motion, he was not om- 

mpresen . they are not omnipotent. 

" So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the 
morning even to the time appointed : and there died of 
the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thou- 
sand men. And when the angel stretched out his hand 
upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of 
the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the peo- 
ple, It is enough : stay now thine hand." 2 Sam. xxiv : 



314 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

15, 16. Here were seventy thousand people of Israel 
slain by an angel; but when God said it is enough, stay 
now thy hand, the power of the angel was gone. The 
angel was simply the agent through whom the power 
of God was put forth. The angel had no power only 
as God gave it to him. 

" And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the 
mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains in 
the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned w^ith 
shame of face to his own J and. And when he was come 
into the house of his god, they that came forth of his 
own bowels slew him there with the sword. Thus the 
Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusa- 
lem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, 
and from the hand of all other, and guided them on 
every side." 2 Chron. xxxii : 21, 22. 

Thus Sennacherib's army was destroyed by the Lord, 
through an angel, who had no power only as the Lord 
exerted his power through the angel. 

" And, behold, there was a great earthquake : for the 
angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came 
and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon 
it. His countenance was like lightning, and his rai- 
ment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers 
did shake and became as dead men." Matt, xxviii : 2-4. 

Thi^ angel came from heaven to roll away the great 
stone from the door of the sepulchre that held the Son 
of God. The power that could make the earth quake, 
could, of course, roll away the stone however great. 
But his countenance struck terror to the hearts of the 
Roman soldiery until they were frightened nigh unto 
death. 'No face ever seen on this earth glowed in light 
like this, save that of the ever blessed Son of God when 
transfigured on the holy mount. 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 315 

When Peter was bound with two chains and made to 
sleep between two soldiers, and keepers were placed before 
the doors of Herod's prison, secured by iron gates, bolts, 
bars, locks, and doors, an angel entered the prison and 
led Peter out as though nothing had been in the way. 
" When they were past the iirst and second ward, they 
came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city ; 
which opened to them of his own accord ; and they 
went out." Acts xii : 10. I^o keys were necessary to 
open doors, or gates, or shake off chains where the angel 
of the Lord was desiring to pass through. They opened 
and closed in obedience to his wilL 

THEIR NUMBER. 

The first announcement of a Savior born was by an 
angel to the shepherds, who watched their flocks in the 
plains of Bethlehem by night. And after this angel 
had given such directions as would enable them to find 
the infant Jesus, " suddenly there was with the angel a 
multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and say- 
ing. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good will toward men.' Luke ii : 13, 14. 

How many of this grand company there were we know 
not, but there was a midtitude — -a vast number. 

When Peter smote ofi' the ear of the high priest's 
servant the Lord rebuked him, saying : " Thinkest thou 
that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall 
presently give me more than twelve legions of angels." 
Matt, xxvi . 53. This word legion may have referred to 
a division of the Roman army called a legion, and num- 
bered from five to six thousand men. Taking this as 
true, then more than twelve legion would be more than 
sixty thousand angels. 

Of many places which might be referred to in this 



316 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

connection, we will mention only one more. "But ye 
are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the 
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innu- 
merable company of angels." Heb. xii : 22. Here we 
find that the science of numbers is unable to furnish 
figures to express the number of this company. Fig- 
ures can express millions, billions, trillions, and on until 
the mind reels and staggers under the contemplation of 
their power ; and yet they are incapable of expressing 
that which is innumerable ; hence there is no power to 
compute the number of angels connected with God's 
mighty universe. As well may we attempt the compu- 
tation of the grains of sand upon the seashore, or the 
stars that glitter in the heavens, as to attempt to com- 
pute the number of angels at this moment engaged in 
the service of God. 

THEY ARE INTERESTED IN THE SALVATION OF MEN. 

We have already witnessed the rejoicing of the an- 
gelic multitude at the birth of the Savior. " Glory to 
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
toward men." Luke ii : 14. What but an interest in 
man's redemption could have brought such joy on ac- 
count of the Savior's birth ? 

When the devil ceased to tempt the Savior, " angels 
came and ministered unto him." Matt, iv : 11. 
When Jesus was borne down by the prosp,ects of com- 
ing death, " there appeared an angel unto him, strength- 
ening him." Luke xxii : 43. 

Once more : "What man of you, having a hundred 
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety 
and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is 
lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he 
layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he com- 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 317 

eth home, he calleth together his frieuds and neigh- 
bors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me ; for I have 
found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that 
likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that 
repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just per- 
sons, which need no repentance." Among whom was 
this rejoicing in heaven on account of the repentance 
of one sinner ? We will see. " Either what woman 
having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth 
not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek dil- 
igently till she find it? And when she hath found it, 
she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, say- 
ing, E-ejoice with me ; for I have found the piece which 
I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in 
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that 
repenteth." Luke xv : 4-10. Thus we learn that an- 
gels watch with anxious solicitude for the salvation 
of sinners, and when one repents they have a season of 
rejoicing in heaven. 

One other thought is apparent in this connection. 
"We know there is rejoicing in the family of God on 
earth when a sinner is converted, is not the rejoicing 
in heaven among the heavenly family when a sinner 
is converted? "We think so. Wlio rejoices in heaven 
over the repentance of a sinner ? The angels of God. 
Then the angels of God are the heavenly portion of 
God's family. This seems clear enough. Did any one 
ever read in the Bible where one or more of the apos- 
tles rejoiced in heaven over the conversion or repent- 
ance of a sinner? Though they may be in a perfectly 
conscious state of existence, they are scarcely in heaven 
yet. " For we must all stand before the judgment 
seat of Christ." Rom. xiv : 10. And again : " For 
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ ; 



318 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

that every one may receive the things clone in his body, 
whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v : 10. This " we " 
includes Paul. When shall we all appear before the 
judgment seat of Christ ? " Because he hath appointed 
a day, in the which he will judge the world in right- 
ness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he 
hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath 
raised him from the d^ad." Acts xvii : 31. When this 
day comes Christ will be on the judgment seat, and we 
shall all appear before him — not before. 

We return to the consideration of angels. Their 
services have been rendered in. answer to prayer. A few 
examples must suffice. Manoah prayed for a return of 
the angel who had appeared to his wife. " And God 
hearkened to the voice of Manoah : and the angel of 
God came again to the woman as she sat in the field." 
Judges xiii : 9. 

Again : " And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and 
the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried 
to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, which cut 
oiF all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and 
captains in the camp of the king of Assyria." 2 Chron. 
xxxii: 20,21. 

We have already seen an account of the angel Gabriel 
coming to Daniel while he was praying, an account of 
which may be found in Daniel ix : 3-23. 

Peter was arrested by order of Herod, and put in 
prison, " but prayer was made without ceasing of the 
church unto God for him." Acts xii : 5. We have 
already seen an account of his delivery by an angel, in 
answer to the prayers of the church, unceasingly made 
in his behalf. That they are engaged for God's chil- 
dren, in some way, is as certain as it is that the Bible is 
true. " Are the}^ not all ministering spirits sent forth 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 319 

to minister for tliem who shall be heirs of salvation ? " 
Heb. i : 14. " The angel of the Lord encampeth round 
about them that fear him." Ps. xxxiv : 7. "For he 
shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in 
all thy ways." Ps. xci : 11. " Take heed that ye de- 
spise not one of these little ones ; for I say unto you, 
that in heaven their angels do always behold the face 
of my Father which is in heaven." Matt, xviii : 11. 
If these passages do not prove the active agency of an- 
gels in the salvation of man, then we confess our inabil- 
ity to tell what they do mean, or to prove any thing by 
the language of Holy Writ. 

When God w^ould comfort Hagar, he sent an angel to 
her ; he sent angels to Abraham to give him promise 
of a son in his old age; he sent an angel to stay his 
hand to save the life of Isaac ; he sent an angel to Ma- 
noah to give him the promise of the birth of Samson ; 
he sent an angel to Zachariah to give him the promise 
of the birth of John the Baptist ; he sent an angel to 
Mary to assure her that she should be the mother of 
the Son of God ; he sent an angel to warn Joseph that 
Herod sought the life of the infant Jesus ; and what 
has the Lord not done through angelic agency ? From 
the burning bush an angel revealed to Moses God's pur- 
pose to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. 
Through an angel God gave to Moses the law from 
Sinai's burning top, (Acts vii : 53. Gal. iii : 19.) and 
time would fail us to give even a tithe of what God has 
done through angelic agency. One thought more and 
we shall have done. 

THEY AVILL BE EMPLOYED IN THE JUDGMENT. 

In explanation to the parable of the tares, Jesus said : 
" The enemy that sowed them is the devil ; the harvest 



i 



320 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

is the end of the world ; and the reapers are the angels. 
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the 
lire ; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son 
of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather 
out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them 
which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace 
of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." 
Matt, xiii : 39-41. 

" And he shall send his angels with a great sound of 
a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from 
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." 
Matt, xxiv : 31. 

" When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and 
all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the 
throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered 
all nations ; and he shall separate them one from the 
other, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; 
and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the 
goats on the left." Matt, xxv : 31-33. 

" And to you who are troubled rest with us, when 
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his 
mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them 
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. i : 7, 8. 

These Scriptures (and many others might be quoted 
to the same import) show clearly that angels w^ill be 
actively engaged in the final winding up of this world. 
They were in existence from the very dawn of creation, 
and we think they existed before time began. We have 
seen them active agents in God's work in all ages of the 
world. Who can measure the extent of their operations 
in all the universe of God ? Of course God could have 
administered the afiairs of his government without 
them, but it is certain he did not see fit to do so. Hav- 



I 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 321 

ing been created, they will never cease to be ; and is it 
not likely that God administers the affairs of the uni- 
verse through their agenc}^ ? Surely this is possible. 

THEIR DESTNIY. 

We have already seen that angels were under law in 
the time of David. He says : " Bless the Lord, ye his 
angels, that excel in strength, that do his command- 
ments, hearkening unto the voice of his word." Ps. 
ciii : 20. This shows that there were angels that obeyed 
the commandments of the Lord in the time of David. 
Had they no commandments from the Lord they could 
not have obeyed any. They also hearkened to the voice 
of his word. His word was addressed to them, or they 
could not have hearkened to it. 

• John says : " When I had heard and saw, I fell down 
to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed 
me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do 
it not : I am a fellow servant with thee, and with thy 
brethren the prophets, and with them which keep the 
words of this book. Worship God." Hev. xxii : 8, 9. 
New Version. 

This show^s that in John's day this angel was a serv- 
ant of God with John and the prophets, and kept the 
sayings of that book. This would seem to indicate 
that he was under the same law which applied to John. 
Certain it is that he was obedient to law ; hence he had 
a law ; and if he had, all others had. They were the 
innumerable company to whom allusion is made in the 
letter to the Hebrews, unto whom the saints had come. 
Hence, the obedient angels will be the eternal compan- 
ions of the redeemed in the new heavens and new earth. 

But what will be the destiny of wicked angels ? Jude 
says : " The angels which kept not their first estate, but 
21 



322 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

left tlieir own habitation, he hath, reserved under chains 
ot darkness unto the judgment of the great day to be 
punished. 

These angels were wicked, or they would not be held 
for punishment. This shows also, that they were under 
law, and violated it in this state of the world's existence ; 
for had they violated law in a state anterior to this, 
they would have met their doom in the winding up of 
that state. There can be no doubt that angels are under 
law now, just as they have always been. This being so, 
they are free to keep or violate their law, for God never 
put man or angel under a law which he was compelled 
to keep, whether he willed so or not. Men and angels 
must be free when under law, in order that they may 
he r.esponsible for violating law. Hence, the destiny of 
angels will not be unlike the destiny of men. Jesus 
will say to the wicked : '' Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his an- 
gels." Matt. XXV : 41. As wicked men will be placed 
loith the devil and his angels, it follows that wicked men 
and wicked angels will be together, and their punish- 
ment will be of the same kind, yet, perhaps, not of the 
same intensity. The pure and the holy will be eternally 
happy, while the rebellious and disobedient will be eter- 
nally miserable. We think this most certainly true. 
This will be the fate of wicked men — why not of wicked 
angels? "What wonderful incentives are these to 
prompt us all to live lives of purity and holiness, that 
we may have association with angels and purified spirits 
for ever. As the holy angels were most likely the 
spirits of those who lived in a state anterior to this state 
of being, is it not likely that the immortalized spirits 
of those who have lived in this world will swell the 
number of the angelic hosts in the new heavens and the 



ORIGIN, MISSION, AND DESTINY OF ANGELS. 323 

new earth that will succeed the heavens and the earth 
that now are ? And thus angels will he the eternal 
companions of the redeemed, over Avhom they have 
watched, and for whom they have ministered in the 
ages and dispensations of the past. Do you tell us this 
is all speculation ? then we derive comfort from the 
speculation. It is a source of great joy to contemplate 
even th.Q possibility of heing forever associated with angels 
in giving glory to God and to the Lamh that was slain 
to redeem us. God help us to he worthy of such honor. 

"When the angel of the Lord proclaims that time shall be no 
more, 

We shall gather, and the saved and ransom 'd see, 
Then to meet again together, on the bright celestial shore. 

What a gathering of the faithful that will be ! 

" At the great and final judgment, when the hidden conies to light, 

When the Lord in all his gloiy we shall see ; 
At the bidding of our Savior, ' Come, ye blessed to my right,' 

What a gathering of the faithful that will be ! 

" When the golden harps are sounding, and the angel bands pro- 
claim, 

In triumphant strains the glorious jubilee ; 
Then to meet and join to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, 

What a gathering of the faithful that will be ! " 



CHAPTER XIX, 



THE MILLENNIUM. 

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
judgment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of 
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and 
for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the 
beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark 
upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived 
and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest 
of the dead Hved not again until the thousand years 
were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed 
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection : 
on such the second death hath no power, but they shall 
be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with 
him a thousand years." Eev. xx: 4-6. 

THE revised or new version is a manifest improve- 
ment on the above, so mucli so, that we propose 
to insert and use it as the text for this discourse, rather 
than the old version. Indeed, we treat the new version 
just as we do any other version, receive and adopt its 
improvements, but continue to use the old, and more 
familiar version where it is not improved in the new. 

" And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
judgment was given unto them ; and I saw the souls of 
them that had been beheaded for the testimony of 
Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshiped 
not the beast, neither his image, and received not the 
mark upon their forehead and upon their hand ; and 
they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 
The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years 
should be finished. This is is the first resurrection. 

(324) 



THE MILLENNIUM. 325 

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resur- 
rection ; over these the second death hath no power, 
but they shall be priests of God and ot Christ, and shall 
reign with him a thousand years." Eev. xx : 4-6. 

Time, the great prover of all things, has shown much 
of what has been written on the millennium to be false; 
and public sentiment has about settled down to the con- 
viction that there is nothing clearly taught in the Bible 
concerning it ; hence, those who propose to speak or 
write about it, are judged and condemned without a 
hearing. The verdict is that it will be all speculation, 
and so the matter is settled in advance. We have never 
manufactured much reputation as a speculator on theo- 
logical questions, and we are a little too old to begin 
that kind of work now. Hear us before passing sent- 
ence upon us. 

There is surely something taught in the Bible on 
the subject, and it can do us no harm to study it. 
While it is vastly interesting^ it is not so important a^ 
that any one's salvation depends upon a knowledge of 
it. A mistake concerning it, therefore, would be en- 
tirely harmless. Hence, we do not see cause for alarm, 
even were we to indulge a little speculation about it, 
so long as we make no effort to force our speculations 
on any one else. 

"We have read much of what has been written on the 
subject, and Bro. M. E. Lard is the only man whose 
writings have fallen under our notice, who seemed to 
have a tangible theory as to lohat the millennium really 
will he. On this point we believe his theory is correct, 
but we shall write as though he had not written. 

Some writers boldly deny that there is any such thing 
taught in the Bible as a thousand years' reign with Christ 
by any class, at any time, any where, in any way. With 



326 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

this class we propose no argument. Our text says, as 
plainly as words can express any thing, that there shall 
he such a reign ^ and this ought to settle it with those who 
believe the Bible ; and we propose no argument with 
those who do not believe it. All such labor is Avorse 
than thrown away. 

Others admit that there will be a thousand years' reign 
with Christ, but they insist that it will be some sort of a 
figurative aflair, and they figure it all away, until there 
is nothing left that they can describe, or that we can 
see. "We know not how to reason with this class, for 
they give us nothing on which to reason. 

Others think that it will consist in the breaking down 
of denominationalism; and the universal acceptance of 
the pure gospel of Christ, as taught by Mr. Campbell 
and his co-workers. However desirable this may be, 
we see no prospect of it ; nor can we find satisfactory 
evidence on which to base such a belief. Denomina- 
tionalism is here, and it is here to stay. It will be here 
when Jesus comes, perhaps about as it is now. Some 
of the denominations that are here now will doubtless 
pass away. Some are dying, and have been struggling 
in the throes of death for a number of years. The 
hand- writing is on the wall, and they must go ; and he 
is but a poor reader of the signs of the times who does 
not already see this ; but perhaps other parties will rise 
up and take their place, and thus denominations will 
continue as long as time endures. All the world has 
never accepted the pure word of God, and never will. 
He is dreaming who expects the millennium to come 
about in this way. 

Still others believe that the millennium will consist 
in the return of the Jews to Jerusalem as a nation, and 
their conversion to the Christian religion ; and that 



THE MILLENNIUM. 327 

Christ will literally come to Jerusalem and reign among 
them in person. Some go so far on this line as to as- 
sume that after the Jews shall be converted, they will 
go out as missionaries to convert the world, and that 
through their agency the world is yet to be converted 
to Christ — that the nation that rejected and crucified the 
Lord of glory, is to be the means of converting the world 
to him. This may be all true, but it is, to our mind, 
not only un scriptural, but wholly unreasonable. We 
have two good reasons for not believing it — (1) the 
Bible does not teach it, (2) the Bible teaches just the 
opposite. 

" Thus saith the Lord, go and get a potter's earthen 
bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of 
the ancients of the priests; and go forth unto the val- 
ley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the 
east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell 
thee, and say. Hear ye the word of the Lord, kings 
of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Thus saith the 
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring 
evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth his 
ears shall tingle." Jer. xix : 1-3. 

The prophet then goes on to recount the wickedness 
to which they would be parties, as though it were ac- 
complished. This is prophetic style. Looking down 
the stream of time into the future, he sees things as they 
loill he when comjpleted long before they transpire. Take 
an example of this style : " He was led as a sheep to the 
slaughter ; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so 
opened he not his mouth: Li his humiliation his judg- 
ment was taken away : and who shall declare his gen- 
eration ? for his life is taken trom the earth." Acts 
viii : 32, 33. 

This is a quotation from Isaiah, which was predicted 



328 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

more than seven hundred years before the events trans- 
pired, and yet the verbs are in the jpast tense, as though 
expressive of events completed when the prophet used 
the language. So in describing the wickedness of the 
Jews, the prophet speaks of things as already done, 
which were long future : " Because they have for- 
saken me, and have estranged this place, and have 
burned incense in it unto other gods," etc., etc. Then 
he describes the calamities that were brought upon 
the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, by the Ro- 
man army under Titus, as perfectly as Josephus, who 
was there, an eye witness to the awful siege. "- And 
I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusa- 
lem in this place ; and I will cause them to fall by 
the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of 
them that seek their lives : and their carcasses will I 
give to be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the 
beasts of the earth. And I will make this city deso- 
late, and an hissing ; every one that passeth thereby 
shall be astonished and Kiss because of all the plagues 
thereof. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of 
their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they 
shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege 
and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that 
seek their lives, shall straiten them." Josephus says 
these things literally occurred as here described by 
the prophet. " Then shalt thou break the bottle in 
the sight of the men that go with thee, and shalt say 
unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; even so 
will I break this people and this city, as one break- 
eth a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again ; 
and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no 
place to bury." Jer. xix : 4-11. 

Grod here describes the terrible condition to which the 



THE MILLENNIUM. 829 

Jews would be reduced in that siege, and that very con- 
dition of things did come. He said he would break and 
scatter them as a potter's vessel, that cannot be made 
whole again. He did break up and scatter them, until 
there is not a place on the face of the earth where 
straggling Jews may not be found ; and they have been 
scattered as he said he would scatter them, from then 
until now. Then how dare any one say they will be 
gathered up again, when God has said it never can be 
done ? While that earthen bottle was clay it could be 
worked over ; if it would not make one vessel it might 
make another ; but when it became an earthen vessel, 
and was broken, the wreck was complete and final. 
From this there is no appeal. If the Jews are ever 
gathered up, and, as a nation, made whole again, then 
God's positive utterance by Jeremiah, as enforced by 
the breaking of that earthen jug, will have failed. There 
has not been a war in the eastern hemisphere in the last 
fifty years that has failed to induce the belief that 
the Jews would go back to Palestine as a result of it. 
Still, wars have ceased, peace has followed, but the 
Jews are scattered as before. But are there not Script- 
ures that speak of the return of the Jews to Jerusalem? 
Yes, many of them ; but most of them were written 
either before, or during the captivity, and had their ful- 
fillment in the return of the Jews to Babylon. We 
think it likely that many of the Jews will become 
weary of waiting for their long-looked for Savior, and 
will accept the Christian religion, but as a nation, never. 
This is not only unreasonable, but impossible. There 
is an individuality about the Christian religion that 
cannot be dispensed with. Those who accept Christ 
must do it as individuals, not as a nation. Each one 
must come to Christ on his own individual faith. He 



330 GOSPEL SEKMONS. 

can come in no other ivay. In this way he can come now ; 
and this is the only way a Gentile, or any one else can 
come. The Jews were broken off for unbelief, and they 
must come in faith. This opportunity^ they have now, 
and have always had — they need not expect, or wait for 
any thing more. 

But suppose large numbers of the Jews were to ac- 
cept the Christian religion, Avhy should they want to go 
back to Jerusalem ? And suppose they were to go 
back to Jerusalem, how would that bring about the 
millennium ? " Oh, Jesus is coming to Jerusalem, to 
live among and reign over the Jews." Is he, indeed ? 
It occurs to us that God has pretty thoroughly tested 
that people. He delivered them from Egyptian bond- 
age, fought their battles, and drove out their enemies, 
made them the custodians of his law, raised up the 
prophets among them, and in a thousand ways gave 
them evidences of his power and goodness, clothed his 
Son in Jewish humanity, who performed his wonderful 
miracles in their presence, attesting the divine charac- 
ter of his mission, and yet they rejected and persecuted 
him, even unto death. When he came forth from the 
grave it was in despite of every thing they could do to 
keep him there. He selected his apostles of them, and 
established his kingdom among them, and gave them 
the first chances of salvation ; and after all this they 
forsook him, and went back into Judaism ; and yet we 
expect him to make his home among them when he 
comes to be admired in his saints — we suppose illustra- 
tive of the principle of doing good for evil. It requires 
a greater degree of credulity than we can command 
to believe this will ever occur. 

In our opinion, the Jews will never want to return to 
Palestine. They are peculiarly a money-loving peo- 



THE MILLENNIUM. 331 

pie. They will never wish to go to a country where 
opportunities for making money are no better than 
where they are; and certainly such facilities are not 
very inviting in that country. For this reason they will 
not likely wish to go there. 

JESUS WILL COME AGAIN. 

" And I saw heaven opened, and behold a whi.te 
horse ; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful 
and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make 
war. His eyes were as a flame of flre, and on his head 
were many crowns ; and ke had a name written, that 
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with 
a vesture dipped in blood : and his name is called the 
Word of God." Rev. xix : 11-13. 

That this had reference to Jesus is evident from the 
fact that his name is called The Word of God, and the 
fact that he is coming as a judge and a ivarrior. Then 
Jesus will come to the earth again. But we are told that 
the book of Revelation is so highly symbolic that we can- 
not know what it means. Well, let us see if the same 
thing is not taught elsewhere. " For the Lord himself 
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice 
of the archangel, and with the trump of God." 1 
Thess. iv : 16. 

" When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and 
all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the 
throne of his glory." Matt, xxv : 31. 

'' And when he had spoken these things, while they 
beheld, he was taken up ; and a cloud received him out 
of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward 
heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them 
in white apparel ; which also said. Ye men of Galilee, 
why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same Jesus, 



332 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come 
in like manner as je have seen him go into heaven." 
Acts i : 9-11. 

There is no symbolism in this ; but a plain statement 
of a literal fact. These witnesses are assured that as 
they had seen Jesus ascend into heaven, he would in 
like manner come again. They saw him ascend liter- 
ally — then he will as literally come as he w^ent. Of this 
there can be no mistake. 

" And the armies which were in heaven followed him 
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and 
clean." Rev. xix: 14. Who were the armies of heaven 
that followed him ? " When the Son of man shall 
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him." 
Matt. XXV : 31. Then the armies of heaven that followed 
him ivere the holy angels that came loith him. See also Matt. 
xvi : 27. . . 

We have seen that while the disciples beheld him 
going, or ascending up, a cloud received him out of 
their sight. He shall so come as they saw him go into 
heaven. Then he will come in the clouds." " And 
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of 
heaven with power and great glory." Matt, xxiv : 30. 
" And then shall they see the Son of man coming in 
the clouds with great power and glory." Mark xiii : 
26. " Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye 
shall see him, and they also which pierced him." 
Hev.i: 7. 

Then if authority can establish any thing, the state- 
ment in the vision of John, relative to the coming of 
Christ, is made out. He will come ; and the armies, 
or angels of heaven, will come with him. And he was 
received by, and went up in a cloudy and he will come 
in the clouds. We have these things in Revelation 



THE MILLENNIUM. 

fully corroborated by otber witnesses. Then they are 
true — literally true. 

WHEN WILL HE COME ? 

Many have been the calculations made on this sub- 
ject. Some have set the very day for his coming. But 
time has shown that these calculations were wrong. 
The days set have passed and he has not come yet. 
We think we can give all the information attainable 
on this subject. We feel sure that we have reached 
the truth in the premises. Then when will he come ? 
We do not know any thing about it. E'ot one thing. Nor 
do we think it at all possible for any one else to know. 
"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, 
not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, 
but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray ; for 
ye know not when the time is." Mark xiii : 32, 33. 
E"ow, why should we worry ourselves in seeking to 
know that which no man knew — no angel knew — that 
which not even the Son of God himself knew. We 
should so live as not to be taken by surprise when he 
comes : hence the admonition : " Watch therefore ; for 
you know not what hour your Lord doth come. But 
know this, that if the goodman of the house had known 
in what watch the thief would come, he would have 
watched, and would not have suffered his house to be 
broken up. Therefore be ye also ready ; for in such an 
hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matt, 
xxiv : 42-44. While we may not know when the Lord 
is coming, of one thing we may be sure — he is not com- 
ing when all the world is looking for him. " For your- 
selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so com- 
eth as a thief in the night ; for when they ^all say. 
Peace and safety ; then sudden destruction cometh 



334 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

upon them." 1 Thess. v : 2, 3. When the Lord shall 
come, the world will be moving on about as it is now. 
We see no prospect of much improvement, and we most 
earnestly pray it may get no worse. The farmer will be 
going to his plow, the mechanic to his shop, the mer- 
chant to his counter, the accountant to his desk, the 
editor to his sanctum, the banker to his vaults, the doc- 
tor to his pills, the lawyer to his office, the miser to his 
gold. " As the days of ^N'oah were, so shall also the 
coming of the Son of man be ; for as in the days 
that were before the flood they were eating and 
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the 
day that IN'oah entered into the ark, and knew not until 
the flood came, and took them all away ; so shall also 
the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be 
in the field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left ; 
two women shall be grinding at the mill ; the one shall 
be taken, and the other left." Matt, xxiv : 37-41. 

These Scriptures show that the world will be drift- 
ing along as usual, Avithout any visible change in the 
vocations of men, just as if the Lord were not coming 
at all. Of this there can be no doubt. That the peo- 
ple will all be converted to the Christian religion, there 
is not the slightest probability. We have seen that 
Jesus is coming as a ivarrior and a judge. " In right- 
eousness he doth judge and make war." On whom will 
he make war ? !N'ot on the righteous, surely ; for in 
righteousness he doth judge and make war, not upon 
the righteous, but the wicked. He will not fight against 
his friends, but his enemies. 

" But this is from that symbolic book." Then we will 
see what Paul says about it. " And to you who are 
troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be 
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in 



THE MILLENNIUM. 335 

flaming fire taking vengeance." Vengeance? Yes. 
Vengeance on whom ? '' On them that know not God, 
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his 
power ; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, 
and to be admired in all them that believe (because our 
testimony among you was believed) in that day." 2 
Thess. i : 7-10. 

While there is no intimation as to how the events here 
alluded to will be brought about, it is clearly seen that 
Jesus will take vengeance on the wicked — them that 
refused to obey him ; and this fact is made, if possible, 
more plain by the fact that he will be glorified in, 
and admired by his saints. The two classes are clearly 
seen in this quotation, and the contrast is well drawn. 
Xo one need be mistaken as to the parties against whom 
Jesus will fight in this war. ^o plea of " symbolic lan- 
guage " can be made to cover them up — them that know 
not God and obey not the gospel. 

WITH WHAT WILL HE FIGHT? 

" And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with 
it he should smite the nations ; and he shall rule them 
with a rod of iron ; and he treadeth the winepress of 
the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." " And 
the remnant were slain with the sword of him that 
sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his 
mouth ; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." 
E,ev. xix : 15, 21. " This is more from that symbolic 
book." Who can be at a loss to know that the sword 
which proceeded out of his mouth was his loord f This 
is by no means the first use of such a style. Paul says : 
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of 



336 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the Spirit whicli is the word of God." Eph. vi : 17. 
This book of Eevelation was the " Revelation of Jesus 
Christ," which God gave unto him * * * and he 
sent and signified it by his angel nnto his servant John. 
To the angel of the church m Pergamos he said : " Re- 
pent ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will 
fight against them with the sword of my mouth." Rev. 
ii : 16. " We understand that the worlds were framed 
by the word of God." Heb. ii: 3. God spake and 
things were. He upholds " all things by the word of 
his power.'* Heb. i : 3. He who spake the world into 
existence, and upholds all things by the word of his 
power, icill speak the word, and the wicked will be slain, 
in a moment they will die — ^be dead — slain by the sword 
which proceedeth out of his mouth. 

" And I saw an angel standing in the sun ; and he 
cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly 
in the midst of heaven. Come, and gather yourselves to- 
gether unto the supper of the great God ; that ye may 
eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the 
flesh ot mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of 
them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both 
free and bond, both small and great." Rev. xix : 17, 
18. " And the remnant were slain with the sword of 
him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded 
out of his mouth ; and all the fowls were filled with 
their flesh." v. 21. 

This shows that the wicked who are slain will not be 
buried, but will be devoured by the fowls of heaven just 
where they chance to be when slain. Is this symbolic, 
or is it a literal description of what will happen ? We 
think it must be understood literally — why not ? A 
very, similar account of what came upon the Jews at 
Jerusalem is given by Jeremiah, and Josephus tells us that 



THE MILLENNIUM. 337 

it was literally fulfilled. Then wliy not this? He says: 
" I will cause tlieni to fall by the sword before tlieir en- 
emies, and by the bands of tbcm that seek their lives; 
and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls 
of heaven and for the beasts of the earth." Jer. xix : 
7. Josephus was in Jerusalem, and he says they buried 
the dead until there was no place to bury, and they 
could bury no more, and the dead were consumed by 
the vultures and dogs where they lay in the streets, 
^ow, when Jeremiah made this prediction, was it not 
just as improbable as that the fowls should feed upon 
the slain at the coming of Christ ? This is a very natu- 
ral and plausible result, and we think it will take place 
just that way. Why not ? 

"But they are to be burned up, destroyed, judged, 
and sent to hell the very day that Christ comes." Let 
us not crowd things too close together. They are to be 
destroyed^ but that does not imply annihilation, surely. 
" Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot ; they did 
eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, 
they builded ; but the same day that Lot went out of 
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and 
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day 
when the Son of man is revealed." Luke xvii : 28-30. 

This was intended to illustrate the condition of things 
■ at the coming of Christ by the condition of things in 
Sodom. As the people then went on in the usual pur- 
suits of life, thinking nothing of danger until they were 
destroyed, so it will be when Jesus comes to the earth 
again. The people will be going on as usual until he 
comes and destroys them. But what is meant by the 
phrase, '^ destroyed them all ? " Does it mean damned 
in hell forever ? We suppose not. What then ? 
They were going on, thinking of no danger, until God 
22 



338 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

instantly killed them — destroyed tlieir lives. So when 
tlie Son of man comes, they will be going on until, like 
the Sodomites, they will be instantly destroyed. De- 
stroyed how ? In hell forever ? Then there is no fit- 
ness in this wonderful Bible illustration. The Sodom- 
ites were not thus destroyed, but their lives were destroyed. 
They were destroyed as living creatures. Then the wicked 
will be destroyed in the same way when Jesus comes. 
They will be slain by the sword that will proceed out 
of his mouth. And that destruction will be everlasting, 
too. They will never live again as they lived before. 
The question of a final resur-rection and judgment is 
not involved in this destruction. These will come in due 
time. Ve will see them directly. 

Will there be any righteous living on the earth when 
Jesus comes? Most certainly there will. What will 
be done with them ? Paul says : " We shall not all 
sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet 
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, 
and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put 
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immor- 
tality." 1 Cor. XV : 51-53. 

This shows that there will be righteous persons liv- 
ing on the earth when Jesus comes. We shall not all 
sleep, that is, all will not be dead. They will be changed 
— they will exchange their mortal for imrjiortal bodies. 
The dead will be raised incorruptible. At the same 
moment when the living saints will be changed, the 
dead saints will be raised incorruptible; that is, they 
will come forth with the same kind of body that the living will 
get by the change. 

" But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, con- 
cerning them that fall asleep, that ye sorrow not, even 



THE MILLENNIUM. 339 

as the rest, which have no hope. For if we beheve that 
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are 
fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For 
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we 
that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, 
shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. 
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a 
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the 
trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 
then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with 
them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the 
air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 
iv: 13-17. [New Version.'] 

This quotation is full, clear, and specific. We learn 
that there will be righteous persons living when the 
Lord comes, but they will not go before those who 
sleep in Jesus. The dead in Christ shall rise first. This 
is generic, and includes all the dead in him. We are 
now prepared to read our text. " And I saw thrones, 
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto 
them ; and I saw the souls of them that had been be- 
headed for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of 
God, and such as worshiped not the beast, neither his 
image, and received not the mark upon their forehead 
and upon their hand ; and they lived, and reigned with 
Christ a thousand years." This is the millennium. If 
this does not express a literal reign with Christ for a 
literal thousand years, we know not what assemblage 
of words would be capable of expressing that thought. 

With the old version before them, many have con- 
cluded that this was a sort of pre-eminence, given to 
the martyrs, and that they are all who are included in 
this reign. This would exclude even the beloved apos- 
tle John himself. Holding, as he did, the most sacred 



340 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

place ill the affections of the Savior, he could have no 
share in this reign with him, because he died a natural 
death, and was not among the martyrs. Besides this, 
it seems to flatly contradict what we have already 
quoted from the apostle Paul, that the dead in Christ 
shall rise first. Tliis is without restriction, and cer- 
tain Ij; includes all the dead in Christ. But the new ver- 
sion clears up all the fog from the passage. After giv- 
ing the characteristics of the martyrs, it takes in other 
classes. And such as Avorshiped not the beast, etc., 
showing that others were included. It clearly means 
all the righteous, living and dead, at the time Jesus 
comes. It can mean no less, when construed with the 
other passages cited. 

The dead in Christ shall rise first. " This is the flrst 
resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in 
the first resurrection ; on such the second death hath 
no power, but they shall be priests of God and of 
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." 
!N^one but the pure and holy have part in this resurrec- 
tion ; because none but the saints will come forth in it. 
This is corroborated by Paul to the Corinthians : " For 
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive. But every man in his own order ; Christ the 
first fruits ; afterward they that are Christ's at his com- 
ing." 1 Cor. XV : 22, 23. 

The resurrection will be in orders or ranks. Christ 
has already been raised, afterward, or in the first rank, 
they who are his at his coming. This is in exact accord 
with what he said to the Thessalonians : The dead in 
Christ shall rise first, for they will be his at his coming. 

But Satan is to be bound during this thousand years. 
The wicked will be all dead, the righteous clad in the 
habiliments of immortality, and under the protection 



THE MILLENNIUM. 341 

of their Master, there will be none subject to the ma- 
chinations of the devil, and hence he will be completely 
shorn of his power. This will be a glorious period. 
No wicked living — the saints all immortalized, hence, 
free from pain, sickness and death. No sorrowing, no 
sighing, no tears, no sad farewells, and no temptations, 
consequently no sin. All will be joy, peace, and love. 
Not a ripple in the ocean of bliss for a thousand years. 
Then will be fulfilled the benediction of the Savior : 
"Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the 
earth." Matt, v : 5. Then the earth will belong to 
the meek — the saints ; and it will be theirs by inherit- 
ance, but never before. They get very little of it now, 
and pay very dearly for that. 

With this theory another curious saying of the Savior 
becomes plain enough. " Then shall two be in the 
field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left." One 
shall be slain, the other left alive, to be glorified and to 
reign with Christ a thousand years. Without this 
theory of the millennium the import of this Scripture is 
difficult to see. 

THE SECOND RESURRECTION. 

We have seen that the dead in Christ rise first, and 
that this is the first resurrection in which none but the 
blessed and holy will have part. " On such the second 
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, 
and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand 
years." The phrase, first resurrection , clearly implies a 
second resurrection ^ for there cannot be a first without a 
second. So does the phrase, dead in Christ, imply that 
there are dead who are not in Christ ; and the sentence, 
the dead in Christ shall rise first, implies that the dead 
out of Christ will rise afterward. How long afterward ? 



342 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

" But the rest of the dead lived not again until the 
thousand years were finished." Eev. xx : 5. This 
clearly implies that the rest of the dead loill live again 
when the thousand years shall be finished. We see not 
how to resist these conclusions from the premises, or 
from the Scriptures quoted. They are plain statements 
of Holy Writ, which seem to admit of no other inter- 
pretation. It seems to us that the conclusions must 
be admitted, or the truth of the Scriptures denied. 

That " the rest of the dead " that lived not again 
until the thousand years were finished, are the ivicked 
dead, is evident from at least two considerations. 
First, all the righteous dead were raised in the first 
resurrection, and hence the wicked must be the rest 
of the dead. Second, as the dead in Christ wll rise 
first, it follows that the dead out of Christ will rise 
next or afterward. Then at the expiration of the 
thousand years, the wicked will all be raised — will 
live again, ^ot as they live now, but they will 
have bodies as indestructible as the righteous, but 
capable of enduring the endless punishment awaiting 
them according to their works. 

Grod will give to every one a body, just such a 
body as will be pleasing to him; doubtless to each 
one such a body as may be capable of enduring that 
degree of punishment w^hich their works may deserve. 
The punishment of all will be eternal — endless ; but 
this by no means implies that it will be to all of the 
same degree of intensity. " And that servant, which 
knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither 
did according to his will, shall be beaten with many 
stripes ; but he that knew not, and did commit things 
worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. 
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much 



THE MILLENNIUM. 343 

be required ; and to whom men liave committed 
much, of him they will ask the more." Luke xii : 47, 
48. This seems to teach clearly that the intelligence and 
opportunities of men, as well as their evil deeds, will 
have much to do with the punishment inflicted upon 
them ; sufficient it is to our present purpose, however, 
to show that the punishment of all the wicked will not 
he of the same degree of intensity. This the above quota- 
tion clearly proves. That the punishment of all. will be 
of the same kind, and of endless duration we will see as 
we proceed. 

"And when the thousand years are expired Satan 
shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to de- 
ceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the 
earth." Having always deceived the wicked, and they 
being now raised, will be deceived by him again. 
They will encompass the camp of the saints about, and 
the beloved city ; and fire will come down from God 
out of heaven and devour them. And the devil that 
deceived them will be cast into the lake of fire and 
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet will 
be, and they will be tormented day and night for ever 
and ever. Having made this general statement, the 
writer goes back and gives the particulars in detail. 
This style is common among divine writers, a sample 
of which may be found in the Mosaic account of crea- 
tion. For John's specifications see Rev. xx : 11-15. 

The fifteenth verse is : " And whosoever was not 
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake 
of fire." 

This is an awful thought. A lake is suggestive of a 
fluid — we could not have a lake of solids. This is not 
a lake of water, but of brimstone in a melted or fluid 
state, else it could not be a lake. It is on fire — burning. 



344 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Oh the stifling fnmes of burning brimstone ! how intol- 
erable the thought! But in it is to be the home of 
the wicked for ever. See that poor creature as he is 
plunged into that awful place, perhaps carried by the 
waves out of sight for a time, and again thrown to the 
surface ; boiling, stewing, seething, broiling, frying ; 
writhing, groaning, crying, and weeping. And 
how long is this to continue? For ever and ever. 
And how long is for ever and ever? Ten thousand 
times ten thousand years may have come and gone, and 
yet for ever and ever will have just begun. Ten million 
times ten million years may come and go, and yet for- 
ever and ever will have just begun. And thus the pun- 
ishment of the wicked will go on and on — always dying, 
yet never dead. " Oh, this is too intolerable to contem- 
plate." True, indeed it is ; but it is the sure destiny of 
the wicked ; and he is not their friend who fails to warn 
them of it. 

Horrible as this picture may make hell appear, we 
can conceive that it originated in the goodness and merqj 
of God. Man can be moved by attractive influences and 
repelling forces. Appealing to man's love of the enjoya- 
ble^ God has made for man a home in heaven, with all 
its eternal joys, and he invites him to it. Opening its 
beauties and pleasures before him, he seeks to attract 
man to him — to win him to the paths of righteousness, 
and keep him in the way of life everlasting. This at- 
tractive force is suflicient to save some men. They will 
serve God because they love him for what he has done for 
them, and loving him they delight in his service, and 
joyfully look to the reward at the end. 

These attractive forces aflect all men more or less ; 
but by far the larger portion of men are so much under 
the control of appetite, passion, lust, ambition, pride — 



THE MILLENNIUM. 345 

in short the pleasures of sin, that attractive influences 
alone will not save them. Before these God has pre- 
pared, and opened up a yawning hell, with all its hor- 
rors, to deter them from rebellion against him. Thus 
the joys of heaven attracting, and the awful punish- 
ment of hell repelling, both conspire to save man. He may 
be lost in despite of all the means provided for his sal- 
vation ; but if he is lost it will be because he will not 
be saved — because he will give up to appetite, pas- 
sion, lust, and sinful desires, rather than deny himself 
of these, and serve God that he may be saved. We 
are fully persuaded that the great majority of men 
are influenced much more by the fear of hell, than 
by love for God. This should not be so, but it is so. 
Men should love and serve God if there was no hell. 
But they will not serve him any too well with the 
fear of hell ever before them. Alas ! many cannot be 
induced to serve God, when all the joys of heaven, 
and the terrors of hell combine to influence them. In- 
deed, it sometimes seems that were hell blotted out, 
there would be but little religion in the world. It is 
right that there should be a hell, or God would not 
have made it. If we will obey God and do right hell 
will not hurt us. We do not propose to take any 
stock in it — why should we be terrorized by the se- 
verity of its punishment ? Let us repeat, then, with 
emphasis — God did not institute hell from a spirit of 
revenge, or hatred toward those who will go there; but 
from a spirit of love and mercy, to prevent them from 
going there, that they might be induced to serve God 
and be saved. 

But we are told that this is only figurative — not 
literal fire. Well, what relief would this bring to the 
wicked? If it be a figure, it must be a figure of 



346 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

something real; and figures always fall short of reali- 
ties; hence the reality will be worse than the figure — 
better that it should be 'literal. But let us see if it is 
not corroborated by other Scriptures against which the 
plea of symbolism cannot be entered. 

" Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, 
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels." Matt, xxv: 41. 
Does not this look like the same fire described by John 
in Revelation ? Is it figurative also ? 

Once more : Of the tares Jesus said : " The enemy 
that sowed them is the devil ; the harvest is the end of 
the world ; and the reapers are the angels. As there- 
fore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire ; so 
shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man 
shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out 
of his kingdom all things that offfend, and them which 
do iniquity : and shall cast them into a furnace of fire : 
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 
xiii : 39-42. Would it require literal fire to burn up the 
tares ? Then will it not be literal fire in this furnace 
into which the wicked are to be cast ? 

Finally on this subject we quote the language of 
John : " I indeed baptize you with water unto repent- 
ance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; he shall baptize 
you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire ; whose fan is 
in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, 
and gather his wheat into the garner ; but he will burn 
up the chafi* with unquenchable fire." Matt, iii : 11, 12. 
There were two classes in John's audience, one very 
good, comparable to wheat, who were to be baptized in 
the Holy Spirit ; the other was composed of wicked 
men, comparable to chafi", who were to be baptized in 



THE MILLENNIUM. 347 

unquenchable fire. As it requires literal fire to burn 
ehafi:*, so literal fire will be that into which the wicked 
will be baptized. Is this plain enough ? 

^ote the fact, too, that this is to be unquenchable fire. 
What other than hell fire is unquenchable ? 

A few passages of Holy Writ supposed to contradict 
what we have here taught, must now be noticed. 

" And these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
ment ; but the righteous into eternal life." Matt, xxv : 
46. This does indeed show that the punishment of 
the wicked will be as endless as the life of the righteous. 
They are both qualified by the same word in the orig- 
inal, hence if the punishment of the wricked will have 
an end, so will the life of the righteous. But the pass- 
age has no bearing on any question we have raised — 
none whatever. 

'^ Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the 
which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, 
and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto 
the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, 
unto the resurrection of damnation." John v ; 28, 29. 

This passage does show that there will be a resurrec- 
tion, both of the just, and of the unjust; but that both 
classes will come forth in the same moment is assump- 
tion — nothing less. There is not an intimation in it as 
to the order of the resurrection. The fact is stated, the 
order is not. It is certainl}^ unsafe to bring this pass- 
age (where not one word is said about the order 
of the resurrection) into contradiction of a num- 
ber of passages in which the order is clearly and plainly 
stated. It were better to take up such passages as 
speak of the order and show, if such be the fact, that 
they are not correctly construed, than to seek to con- 
tradict them by remote inferences. Such a method of 



348 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

meeting an argument, though often resorted to, is not 
very satisfactory to those who think for themselves. 
As this is the strongest passage relied on, we need not 
pursue the weaker ones, most of which have been al- 
ready noticed in other connections. 

AFTER THE JUDGMENT. 

" And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the 
first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and 
there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy 
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of 
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Be- 
hold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will 
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God 
himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there 
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain : for the former 
things are passed away. And he that sat upon the 
throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he 
said unto me, Write : for these words are true and faith- 
ful." Eev. xxi : 1-5. 

In connection with this we beg permission to quote 
from Peter : " But the day of the Lord will come as a 
thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass 
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt 
with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that 
are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all 
these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons 
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day 
of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dis- 
solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ? 



THE MILLENNIUM. 849 

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for a new 
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- 
ness." 2 Pet. iii : 10-13. 

Many sublime thoughts are suggested in these quo- 
tations. In the grand conflagration that will envelop 
the universe at the close of the millennium, the heavens 
will he dissolved, the elements melted, and the earth 
burned up — dissolved. "We suppose nothing will be 
annihilated ; indeed, we think it likely that every thing 
created by God will exist, in some form, as long as he 
will exist — eternally. We say of a house, " it was 
burned up." We do not mean that it was annihilated 
only that it ceased to exist as a house. The matter 
passed off into other forms, gas, soot, ashes, etc. So 
we apprehend that when all material things are dis- 
solved, the m.atter of which they are composed will still 
exist, and of it God will create a new heavens and a 
new earth. Certain it is there will he a new heavens 
and a new earth, for John saw them ; and Peter looked 
for them, and he looked for them because God had 
promised them. IN'early seven hundred years before 
Christ was born in Bethlehem, God, by the mouth of 
Isaiah, said : " For, behold, I create new heavens and 
a new earth ; and the former shall not be remembered 
nor come into mind ; but be ye glad and rejoice for ever 
in that which I create ; for, behold, I create Jerusalem 
a rejoicing, and her people a joy." Isa. Ixv: 17, 18. 

We take it that this is the promise to which Peter 
refers as following the events described by him. If 
this was not the promise in accordance with which 
Peter looked for a new heavens and a new earth, then 
we know not where to find it. Thus we learn that the 
new heavens and the new earth were seen in prophecy 
long before John saw them. That the}^ will come as 



850 GOSPEL SERMOXS. 

Joliu saw tlieni, we think is simply certain. We can 
scarcely conclude that God will create them for naught, 
or that the new earth will be uninhabited. Who, then, 
will be its inhabitants? Peter's remark, "wherein 
dwelleth righteousness,^' implies that only the righteous 
will be on, and occupy it. May it not be that it will 
be the eternal abode ot the glorified saints ? Of this we 
affirm nothing. Only this we know — free from the 
presence of the wicked, and the alluring temptations 
of the devil, with nothing but righteousness prevailing 
there, it will be a glorious home for those who may 
occupy it. Fit abode for those who have washed their 
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
We love life upon the earth as it now is — how much 
more desirable it will then be. What a strong incent- 
ive to the saints to strive after that degree of holiness 
that will fit them for citizenship on the new earth. We 
often think of moving to new countries to improve our 
condition ; but this earth, as it now is, can never satisfy 
the longings of those who seek a better country, l^ot 
so there. Those who will occupy the new earth will be 
entirely contented — they will want nothing better. 
The tree of life will flourish in eternal vigor, and the 
river of life will ever flow through it. Yes, and it will 
have a city, whose maker and builder is Grod ; and the 
throne of God will be in it. Oh, what a country ! 

" Celestial land, could our weak eyes, « 

But half thy charms explore, 
How would our spirits long to rise, 

And dwell on earth no more." 

Why any child of God should be stricken with terror 
and alarm at the prospect of Christ's second coming is 
not easy to see. For those who have oil in their vessels, 
with their lamps trimmed and burning, and have on 



THE MILLENXIUM. 351 

the wedding garment ready to meet the Bridegroom 
at his coming, it should be a source of inexpressible 
joy. It will take away the dread of death, for to them 
there will be no death. They will be changed in a mo- 
ment without death. But those who have no oil in 
their vessels, and have slumbered and slept, in neglect 
of duty, until their lamps have gone out, and have not 
on the wedding garment or Christian character, may 
well be alarmed, for it will be too late to buy oil then. 
Oh, my brother, wake up to a discharge of duty now. 
Watch and be ready — always ready ; for you know not 
the time when the Son of man conieth. God help us 
all to be ready. 

Friendly sinner, do you ever think of the fact that 
Jesus is coming to take vengeance on them that know 
not God and obey not the gospel ? "What have you 
to gain by continued rebellion against God ? 

" Say, have you an arm like God, 

That you his will oppose ? 
Fear you not the iron rod, 

With which he breaJvS his foes ? " 

When Jesus steps down from the mediatorial throne 
there will be no more pardon of sin. It will then be too 
late, too late. 'Now, mercy calls, begs, pleads, and 
beseeches you to stop, but you will not — ^then stern, 
unbending justice will take vengeance upon you 
beyond the reach of mercy. Come back ! come back ! 
Surely it is madness and folly to proceed. 

" Stop, poor sinner, stop and think, 

Before you further go ; 
"Why will you sport upon the brink 

Of everlasting woe ? " 



352 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

* Note : — Many persons object to every thing written or spoken on the 
subject of the Millennium, because the book of Revelation is so highly 
symbolic that it cannot be understood. That ww^/i of the book is 
symbolic, we most frankly admit, but that all of it is so we respect- 
fully deny. Take, for example, the letters to the seven churches of 
Asia. That these churches did exist, wearing the names applied to 
them, is simply certain ; and that they were literally guilty of what 
is charged against them in those letters will be denied . by none. In 
the preface to the book it is said : "Blessed is he that readeth, and 
they that heareth the words of this prophecy, and keep those things 
which are writtten therein, for the time is at hand." Rev. i : 3. 

How can the book be a blessing to any one who cannot understand 
it? If it is so symbolic that nothing in it may be understood, how 
can any one be expected to keep those things which are written 
therein ? We think it likely that those who symbolize and figure it 
all away will not understand much of it, while grand truths sparkle 
on the very surface unobserved. 

But to one thing we wish to call the reader's special attention: 
Almost every important point made in the foregoing discourse on the 
Millennium is corroborated by other Scriptures which have never 
been regarded as symbolic. We think that Peter, Paul, and Jesus 
himself have pretty fully supported John in Revelation on this sub- 
ject. The thousand years between the first and second resurrections 
is the only single point now remembered that is dependent upon 
John's vision alone for support. Being sustained in so many points 
by other witnesses, is he not worthy of credit in this ? 



CHAPTER XX. 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION.* 

IT is our settled conviction, founded upon long, care- 
ful, and extensive observation, that the greatest 
hindrance to the advancement of the Redeemer's King- 
dom, is the want of an efficient administration of the 
divine government. This we never can have, while it 
is every one's business to administer it. Yerj consci- 
entiously believing this, we propose to submit a few 
thoughts on the subject of Church Organization and 
Government, that we may contribute something, if pos- 
sible, to the removal of this unfortunate disease afflict- 
ing the body of Christ. We are not vain enough to 
suppose that we can say any thing that will change the 
views of those who have written upon the subject. Our 
acquaintance with human nature teaches us that when 
men take a position before the public, and fortify them- 
selves in it, they rarely ever recede from it. It is always 
unfortunate for brethren to differ on any subject; and 
I have no taste for controversy with brethren, but I 
have already been notified that when I should write on 
this subject, " there would be blows to take as well as 
blows to give." I write not for the purpose of giving 
" blows " to any one, but in the hope that those who 
are not clad in a coat of mail made of preconceived 
opinions, may be benefitted by an investigation of the 

^'Originally written for the Old-Path Guide, and afterward pub- 
lished in a tract. Revised for this work. 

23 (353) 



354 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

subject. Before presenting the thoughts we have in 
mind to write, however, we beg permission to repro- 
duce a somewhat lengthy extract from an essay written 
by Bro. A. Campbell in an Extra to the Millennial Har- 
binger, for the year 1835. But very few have this essay, 
and it occurs to us that those interested in the exami- 
nation of the subject, and who have not read it, would be 
profited by a perusal of it. It was written in the prime 
of his manhood, and in his own inimitable style ; at a 
time which called into active exercise all the powers 
of his giant intellect ; and when the subject enlisted all 
the sympathies of his pure spirit. But we will let the 
extract itself pronounce its own eulogy. 

OEGANIZATION OF A CHURCH — BY A. CAMPBELL. 

"When a society of disciples agree thus to walk as Christians 
nnder the New Testament, solemnly adopted as the rule of their piety 
and morality, they are not organized as a body having all the officers 
necessary to their furtherance in the faith, and growth in the knowl- 
edge of God, and of Jesus our Eedeemer, They need bishops and 
deacons ; but it may happen that in the meantime they have no persons 
qualified for these highly useful and responsible offices; yet they 
must go forward and grow in the knowledge of the Lord. In order 
to be useful to the most feeble band who have come together, we 
shall suppose ourselves called to counsel those who have just entered 
into the covenant, and have yet no persons approved to place over 
them in the Lord. 

"There are but two cases supposable, because there are but two 
distinct cases which have as yet occurred. The one is a church com- 
posed of disciples who have come together without the intervention 
of any preacher or teacher — ^^persons who may have migrated far 
from the place in which they were first converted — or who have been 
brought to a knowledge and belief of the truth without any other 
creed than the Bible. The other is the case of those who have been 
recently illuminated by the instrumentality of a preacher, by whose 
labors in their neighborhood they have been translated into the 
kingdom of God's beloved Son. In the latter case he should labor 
among them till they are able to make a Scriptural selection from 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION A. CAMPBELL. 355 

among themselves. But the former ease presents the greater diffi- 
culty, and to it we shall more particularly attend. 

" It is obvious that churches were found in the age of the apostles 
that were incomplete ; still, they were ctiurches of Christ, and enjoyed 
some of the ordinances without the full order of a church. Had this 
not been the case, Paul could not have left Titus in Crete, " to set in 
order the things wanting, and to ordain elders in every city." Even in 
Christian communities that had all the ordinances of the apostles, 
there were some more exemplary than others in all the excellencies 
of good order. 

" Now, as in the nature of things, there is the infancy of a commu- 
nity as well as its manhood, so is it in every particular church of 
Christ. In the case before us we have an infant church, like an in- 
fant family, without an experienced oversight. Some persons must 
either assume the temporary management of affairs, or be appointed 
to officiate for the time being. There cannot be any debate in de- 
ciding whether this responsibility ought to be granted or assumed. 
All will agree, in theory at least, that it ought to be granted by the 
voice of the community, and not assumed by any individual or indi- 
viduals. Numerous and great must be the misfortunes of any com- 
munity who give themselves up to the assumption of any of its mem- 
bers. The best qualified are always the most modest and backward; 
while those least qualified to preside or to lead, push themselves for- 
ward. If, then, the brethren will not give their voice in favor of 
those they judge best qualified, they must give themselves up into 
the hands of an individual more zealous than intelligent, more confi- 
dent than modest, or more conceited than wise in the affairs of the 
kingdom of heaven. 

" Good order in such a case requires that some persons, and those 
of the best alitainments, and the best character, should be elected, 
for the time being, to go forward in social worship and in the edifi- 
cation and discipline of the infant flock. The New Testament, in- 
deed, requires this, for the apostles would not consent to the ordina- 
tion of a novice, nor one who has not been first proved to be compe- 
tent to the duties assigned to the bishops and deacons. 

" It is disorderly, in the fullest sense of the word, for any person 
to assume any thing in an organized community. The voice of the 
church must he directly heard, before any person can he acceptably heard hy 
it. It is conceded that in a called or accidental meeting of citizens of 
any country, or Christ's kingdom, some person must move an organ- 
ization, or call the assembly to order, anterior to their action on any 
subject. But as soon as they are organized no person can open his 



856 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

lips but by permission of the assembly, through its approved organs. 
And be it observed with emphasis, once for all, that whatever is dis- 
orderly in any community is always disorderly in the Church of God; 
for the house of God necessarily is, and ought always to be, the most 
orderly assembly on earth. When, then, a church is formed, and 
persons appointed to preside over it, every one that prays, sings, ex- 
horts, speaks, or performs any service in or for the church, does it by 
permission, request, or appointment of the brotherhood, through the 
person or persons whom they have appointed to administer the af- 
fairs of the congregation. And whoever speaks or acts in or for the 
community, without such request, permission, or appointment, acts, 
out of order, and despises the whole congregation ; for he that dis- 
honors the overseers of the congregation, dishonors the congregation 
that has called them to this office, though it were but for a single 
meeting. 

" So long, then, as in every community there are some more ad- 
vanced in knowledge, experience, and years than others, and so long 
as every Christian community has the living oracles — the. writings 
and teachings of the apostles and prophets — there is not a case likely 
to happen, in which it will be lawful to forsake the assembling of 
themselves together for all the acts of social worship, and all the 
means of edification and consolation in the truth, because of the want 
of oflEicers or persons to serve them in any capacity. If they are all 
such .perfect babes in Christ — infants unable to speak a single word 
to edification — let them read, and sing, and commemorate the Sav- 
ior's death, with the Book in their hands, under the presidency of 
the oldest infants in the Lord among them. The senior infants, 
chosen and appointed to lead the way, are, to them, elders and over- 
seers in the Lord. 

" It is true that this is supposing an extreme case, merely to test a 
principle, or its universality ; yet in this extreme case the rule will 
work well ; for if the church is composed of such very babes, they 
will not require learned men to instruct them. One that is a few 
days in advance will be relatively a senior among them, and fit to as- 
sist them in the Lord. 

" ' Experience is a good teacher,' and ' practice makes perfect,' 
are maxims of the most Catholic orthodoxy. If, then, there is not 
wanting devotion to the Lord, there will be a very discernible pro- 
ficiency in a short time ; and their infant church will soon advance 
under the wholesome doctrine which is according to godliness, not 
only in age, but in strength. They will grow in favor as they grow 
in knowledge, and they will advance in usefulness in the ratio of 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION A. CAMPBELL. 357 

their unfeigned devotion to the Lord. Still tliere is no surrendering 
any principle of the Christian institution before us. As we have the 
man in the infant, so we have in this arrangement the Church of 
Christ, with its officers growing up to manhood. 

" There is no wild democracy, no despotic papacy, no self-created 
ministry, no lay administration of ordinances in this economy. It 
is, however, an wfant church, and it ought soon to learn to speak for 
Christ, by the eloquence of both word and action, suiting the ac- 
tion to the word, and the word to the occasion. 

" Generally it happens in the present time, as it did in the age 
of the apostles — most new congregations are gathered by the labors 
of some evangelist. In such cases it becomes not only his duty to 
immerse them on confession of their faith, but also to teach them 
how they ought to walk and please the Lord in all things, by di- 
recting their attention to the apostle's doctrine, or to such portions 
of it as apply to their circumstances. But constitutionally it is 
they themselves, and not he that chooses for them their officers. 

ORDINATION OF BISHOPS. 

"The right to officiate in any office in the Christian Church 
being derived from the head of the church alone, we must regard 
all constitutional officers as acting under the authority, as well as 
by the direction of the Great King. The long debated question 
about the jus divinum, or divine right of bishops, deacons, and 
their ordination, we promise not to discuss in this essay, farther 
than a passing remark. This much of the question only falls within 
our present object — Whether is the right to ordain derived directly 
from the Lord to the church ; or, indirectly through a long suc- 
cession of ordained persons, in an unbroken series from the apostles. 

" The great majority of Christendom, Catholic and Protestant are 
on the side of an order of bishops in succession from the apostles, 
with the right to ordain vested in them by the head of the church. 
Their model is the Levitical Priesthood. The order of Aaron and 
the order of Peter are, with the majority, the same sort of an .in- 
stitution, only with the exception of flesh and blood lineage. Their 
views make the priesthood an order distinct from the church, though 
acknowledged to belong to it and to be a component part of it. 

" The right to ordain is, then, in popular esteem, a right vested 
in an order of men now of eighteen hundred years continuance, 
transmitted through many hands ; and is, therefore, to us, in- 
direct from Jesus Christ. We, however, from many reasons, are 
constrained to reject the idea of an elect order in succession in the 



358 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Christian Church, possessing vested rights, derived not from the 
community as such, but from Jesus Christ, through a distinct class 
in the community as essentially papistical in its tendency, and 
contrary to the letter and spirit of the Christian institution. 

" We expect not to find the living among the dead. We seek 
not authority in the church from an order distinct from the church, 
so liable to deterioration and abuse as what is usually called 'the 
Christian priesthood ' Authority from the church is much more 
direct than that claimed by Rome, England, and Scotland. Theirs 
has passed through many hands, polluted with the blood of saints and 
martyrs. 

" There is not a sectarian bishop on this continent, call him Epis- 
copal, Presbyterian, Baptist, or Methodist, who pretends to trace 
his descent from the apostles, through Eome, English, or Scotch 
bishops, who, in passing up the stream of authority, through 
the times of Papistical and Protestant supremacy, can find one line 
of clean hands, pure from the blood of the confessors of the Lord 
Jesus. If the hands of those that consecrated him are not dripping 
with the blood of those crying from under the celestial altar for 
vengeance on their murderers, it is impossible for him to show 
that those who laid their hands upon his predecessors were not 
stained with that blood ; for the bishops of the Man of Sin are 
crimsoned from head to foot with the blood of slain millions, who, 
but for them and their orders, would have given their lives rather 
than deny their Lord or pollute their own consciences. 

"Has the Lord Jesus, then, left his church and people to seek 
for authority to preach, teach, and administer ordinances from the 
hands of his worst ejiemies? or has the grace of ordination descended 
to us, pure and uncorrupted, through hearts and hands stained 
with Christian blood? It cannot be. We must look for authority 
from the Lord more direct and less liable to deterioration than that 
of which many Catholics and Protestants make their boast. 

" These things premised, we hasten to state and answer the fol- 
lowing questions : 

" (1) What is ordination as respects the Christian Church ? 

"It is the solemn election and appointment of persons to the 
oversight and service of a Christian community. To ordain is to 
appoint ; and all appointments, from that of a successor to Judas 
as a witness of the resurrection, from an apostle to the messenger 
of a church, or an almoner, was in the beginning by an election of 
the whole community. 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION A. CAMPBELL. 359 

"But there must be some form of setting persons apart to the 
work, or of inducting them into the office to which they have been 
elected. This is self-evident. It must be done after some form. 
Still, we must distinguish between the election or appointment and 
the mode of consecration or induction. The election or choice of 
the community, guided in that choice by the Living Oracles, is 
the essential consideration without which all forms ^^'0uld be una- 
vailing. Vox populi, vox Dei, or, in English, ' the voice of the peo- 
ple,' is in this case, 'the voice of God,' calling the persons elect to 
the work of the Lord. 

" To comprehend the meaning of the form it is necessary to re- 
gard the ordination throughout in the light of a covenant, or an 
agreement between the congregation that elects and the persons 
elected. I say a covenant ; for, in truth, a solemn compact it is. 
The items of agreement are these : The church, persuaded that no 
society can exist comfortably without government, or the exercise 
of authority ; that what is every person's business is no person's 
business ; and that every society, as much as every family, has its 
own proper business ; that the congregrition, as a whole, sustains a 
certain relation to the world as well as that subsisting among the 
members themselves ; that she owes many duties to her own mem- 
bers and to the world, which she cannot discharge faithfully and 
effectually in the aggregate, or as a community, but by persons 
authorized and directed by her to act for her and in her name — 
stipulates and agrees with A, B, and C, whom she has proved to 
be qualified by the Holy Spirit for rendering those services to the 
church, that they devote themselves to the work of bishops or 
deacons as the case may be ; and in consideration of their submit- 
ting and devoting themselves to the exercise of those functions 
from a ready mind, she agrees to submit to them in the Lord, 
and to sustain them in all respects, so far as she has ability, and 
they require her aids. 

" Such, in substance, though not in all its details, is the under- 
standing, agreement, or compact between the electors and the 
elected; and on this understanding they proceed to ordination, or 
the consecration of those persons to the work assigned them. 

"Such being the agreement, in virtue of which the forms of 
ordination are called for, it follows that the forms themselves must, 
in some way, correspond with the thing signified and necessarily 
the parties themselves, and not a distinct order, are to take part ; 
for the covenant is between the electors and the elected^ a,nd not between 



360 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the elected and a distinct order of men. The corollary from tliese 
preniises is, that the 

CONGREGATION HEKSELF ELECTS AND ORDAINS ALL HER OFFICERS. 

" No person can take any part in these forms of consecration or 
separation to the work of the Lord, but only so far as they are re- 
garded as members of the congregation, and to be under the authority 
of those whom they invest with oliice, or to give directions to them 
as servants of the congregation. 

" (2) ' What, then, may we ask in the second place, are the forms 
of ordination ? ' The answer is at hand. Imposition of hands accom- 
panied with fasting and prayer. Thus have persons been consecrated 
to sacred offices in the Christian Church from the beginning. And, 
indeed, since ever there was an organized assembly of worshipers on 
earth, the forms of ordination to office have been substantially the 
same — so far at least that ' holy hands ' have universally been laid 
upon the heads of those invested with sacred offices. 

" (3) The third question is still more interesting because of the 
crisis in which we live, and to it more attention must be paid. It is 
this : Who may, or who ought to lay hands on the bishops, or deacons, or 
messengers elect f 1 answer, without dubiety, and in a few words, the 
whole community, or such elders of the community as may be ap- 
proved in behalf of the congregation. I am fully aware of the ob- 
jections which will arise in many minds to such an unqualified dec- 
laration. We cannot argue the question here, but we dare not leave 
it with a simple assertion, and shall, therefore, suggest some reasons 
for the answer given. 

" (1) The nature of the understanding or covenant between the 
electors and the elected, and of the authority to be delegated to the 
elected by the electors, demands that they who give the power, or 
the grace, or the office, should give it with their own hands, and not by 
proxy. Imposition of hands in the act of ordination is simply the 
conferring of office, or devoting a person to the work of the Lord ; 
and, therefore, all that is decent and comely require that those who 
give the office give it with their own hands. 

" (2) Besides, it is more dignified on the part of the elected to re- 
ceive the office from those to whom they are to minister, than from 
any foreign order of men. To receive a crown from a foreign prince 
is always indicative of vassalage on the part of the prince who re- 
ceives it to him who confers it. To be ordained by the hands of 
those without the congregation that confers the honor, is dishonora- 
ble to both parties — the bishops elect and the electors. It argues 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION — A. CAMPBELL. 361 

subordination and vassalage in both the bishops and their flocks to 
those foreigners who impose their hands in ordination. 

" (3) ' Without all contradiction,' says Paul, ' the less is blessed by 
the superior.' If, then, the bishops and deacons are servants of the 
church, and if the conferring of office be a blessing, or an honor to 
them who receive it, the church being superior to them that serve, 
it is more apposite that the congregation impose hands, than that a 
class of public servants, the equals of the elect, should do it. 

" (4) But more authoritative than all, when sacred office became 
necessary in God's first congregation, he commanded the multitude, 
and not Moses nor Aaron, to impose hands on the heads of those who 
were to be devoted to the service of the congregation. Be it then 
distinctly observed, that those now called the laity by the Man of 
Sin, and those accustomed to his style, were commanded by God to 
consecrate the Levites and to devote them to the service of the taber- 
nacle of the Lord. Hence ordination began with the common peo- 
ple. Let the reader who is sceptical turn over to the book of Num- 
bers, chapter viii, verses 9 and 10. ' And thou shalt bring the Le- 
vites before the tabernacle of the congregation, and thou shalt 
gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together, and 
thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel 
shall put their hands upon the Levites. And Aaron shall offer the Le- 
vites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel that 
they may execute the service of the Lord.' It is, I believe, univers- 
ally agreed that the whole 600,000 militia of Israel could not impose 
their hands upon 22,000 Levites ; but that the heads of the people, 
the representatives of all the tribes, for and in behalf of all the con- 
gregation, and in the presence of the whole assembly, did actually 
put their hands upon the heads of the Levites. But however this 
may be agreed upon, one thing is certain, that those who first im- 
posed hands were the community who had never hands imposed on 
themselves. 

" (5) In the last place here: The idea of superiority of power in 
those who ordain, above the community, is without countenance in 
the New Testament. Nay, the contrary is taught ; for when the 
apostle Paul and Barnabas were sojourners and members of the con- 
gregation in Antioch, at the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, the 
prophets and teachers, with the concurrence of the whole congrega- 
tion, certainly inferior to the great apostle to the Gentiles, laid hands 
on Paul and Barnabas, and consecrated them to the work assigned 
them by the great head of the church. 

" From this imposition of hands we learn first — (1) That hands 



362 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

were imposed, not always for conferring spiritual gifts, even in the 
days of the apostles, but for devoting and separating persons to the 
work of the Lord. (2) That persons in inferior standing in point of 
office laid hands of ordination on those who were their superiors in 
gifts and abilities, as well as in general standing in the estimation of 
the brethren. f3) That imposition of hands was essential to ordina- 
tion, accompanied with prayer and fasting; and (4) that no excel- 
lence in the gifts of preaching, teaching, or of administering the af- 
fairs of the family of God , that no call or qualification on the part of 
heaven, however clear and unequivocal, was allowed, in the primi- 
tive church, to dispense with these sacred forms of ordination, 

" It may not be out of order to observe, that if every particular 
congregation thus elect and ordain its officers by the authority of the 
Lord, and according to the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, then, in 
that case, the right and authority of such officers to administer the 
attairs of the church is directly derived, not by succession, through 
ignorant and blood-stained hands, but directly from heaven. To 
such elders it may in truth be said : ' Take heed to yourselves and to 
the flock over which the Holy Spirit has constituted you bishops.' 

'• In such a case there is no need to go out of the particular con- 
gregation to search the rolls and moth-eaten registers of an order of 
clergy pretending to lineal official descent from Peter, through more 
than three hundred popes and their clergy; which, by the way, 
would be on the popular hypothesis essential to the confidence of the 
church in the legitimacy of their succession. 

" In this case the church has only to consult the sacred Scriptures, 
and to see that the persons whom they elect are those pointed out 
by the Holy Spirit speaking in the apostles. Thej^ have to take heed 
that they are duly elected by the voice of the congregation, and that 
they are devoted to the Lord by the imposition of their hands, with 
prayer to God and fasting. Then have they assuran(;e that they have 
a divinely authorized ministry, to which it is their duty, their honor, 
and their happiness to submit themselves as to those who are respon- 
sible to Jesus Christ and to them for the faithful performance of the 
duties of their office. To them they are in duty bound to submit as 
' to them that watch for their souls,' under the solemn responsibility 
of 'giving an account to the Lord:' 'that they may do it with joy 
and not with sorrowing : ' for that would be to their eternal detri- 
ment and dishonor. 

" Against all this we anticipate that it will be repeated the ten 
thousandth time, that the apostles alone laid hands on those elected 
by the congregation. But this cannot be sustained ; for the elders of 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION — A. CAMPBELL. 363 

a congregation laid their hands upon the head of Timothy— for the 
distinguished members of the church of Antioch laid their hands 
upon the heads of the missionaries Paul and Barnabas— as in the an- 
tecedent house of God the elders of the whole congregation, or per- 
sons deputized by the community, who had never had hands im- 
posed on them, laid their hands upon the Levites. And even should 
it be still argued that it was most usual for the apostles to lay on 
their hands, a question arises, which, when fairly settled, nullifies the 
papistical argument deduced therefrom ; for it can be argued, and 
argued triumphantly, that the apostles, not by virtue of apostleship, 
but because elders in the congregation at Jerusalem, laid hands on 
the deacons elect ; and as elders in other congregations which they 
planted or watered, assisted fn the consecration of those appointed 
by the churches, by and with the advice, and according to the direc- 
tion of the apostles, that persons are nominated, elected, and 
ordained. 

" If the apostle Paul could, with propriety, while absent in the 
body, say that he acted with the Corinthians in the exercise of disci- 
pline, may it not, in the same license be said, that 'though absent in 
the body, yet present in spirit,' or by his will he acts with the church 
m executing the orders which he gave ? 

" To be still more explicit and copious on this long debated topic, 
we would add, that when a church is once arrived at manhood, hav- 
ing its bishops and deacons — that when any person is elected by the 
congregation to fill any vacancy, by death or resignation, then indeed 
the congregation will most naturally act through its own elders 
in laying on hands on the newly elected bishop. And is not 
this the reason, and a good reason, why the apostles, who were 
always the elders in every church where they sojourned, took 
so active a part in the imposition of hands on the bishops and dea- 
cons elect ? 

*' He that concludes that ordination is a part of the apostleship, 
must, to be consistent, plead that the eldership and deaconate are 
parts of the apostolic office ; for the apostles acted as elders and dea- 
cons in some churches. They all attended upon tables in Jerusalem 
before persons were elected to those duties ; and Peter exhorts elders 
because he says he himself is one ; and consequently it was in good 
order for him as a bishop, and a senior bishop, to exhort not only the 
Christian community, but the elders that presided over them. And 
be it observed, that he addresses the elders as pastors or shepherds, 
feeding the flock of God under the supervision of the great, the chief 
Shepherd and Bishop of souls. The only divinely authorized Arch- 



364 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

bishop is, then, ' the Chief Shepherd ' of God's flock, the Lord Jesus, 
who ' purchased the flock with his own blood.' 

*' There is no reason for the frequency of allusion to the imposi- 
tion of the apostles' hands, which merits our notice. They were en- 
trusted with the erection of the kingdom of the Messiah in the world. 
This threw into their hands every sort of office and duty. They 
preached first, they taught first, they exhorted first— first waited upon 
the tables of the poor — were the first bishops and the first deacons of 
the churches which they planted. They appointed persons, such as 
Timothy, Titus, and others, to assist them in getting things in order. 
But that they had successors in this character is insusceptible of 
proof, from all that is on sacred record. Many things they taught by 
word, and many things by letter. Their traditions by w^ord are 
sometimes alluded to, and when learned are as obligatory as what is 
written. They are, however, only found in an authoritative form in 
their epistles still extant. 

" One thing is most obvious : They never appointed bishops over 
two or more churches; but so soon as it w^as expedient, ordained. 
bishops in every city, elders in every church. Hence we read of the 
elders, or bishops (for these words are used interchangeably) of the 
church in Ephesus — of the church in Jerusalem — of elders ordained 
in every church, but never of one bishop over two churches. 

" Are we not now prepared to state the order of ordination ? 

" (1) The congregation, after having proved the abilities and ca- 
pacities to teach and rule found in its own members, and, above all, 
tested their character as approved by those within and without the 
congregation, appoints a day for the proper election of its officers. 

" (2) Having agreed upon those eligible, possessing, in an accepta- 
ble measure, the qualifications commanded by the apostles, a day is 
appointed for their solemn consecration to the Lord. 

" (3) The day arrives ; the church assemble with fasting, and pro- 
ceed to select members to impose hands on the officers elect in behalf 
of the congregatian. The persons thus chosen then- proceed to im- 
pose their hands on the heads of those elected, while all unite in 
prayer to God that those brethren chosen by them, and now devoted 
to the Lord as their bishops or deacons, may, feeling their responsi- 
bility, with all diligence and fidelity to the Lord, and with all hu- 
mility of mind and afi'ectionate concern for the brotherhood, exercise 
the office with which they are hereby invested in the name of 
the Lord, according to the true intent and meaning of the 
Christian institution, as they shall account to the Lord at his glori- 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION A. CAMPBELL. 365 

ous appearing and kingdom. The whole congregation then lifting 
up their voice, say, Amen. 

" Whether this may include all the solemnities of such an occasion 
may, perhaps, be questioned by some ; but that it does not transcend • 
all that is taught and applied in the ancient order of ordination, 
cannot, we think, be doubted by any one intelUgent in the oracles of 
God. It will be remembered that we are writing in reference to a 
new church — to a congregation coming into the apostolic order ; for 
after being once set in order, it will be unnecessary to Sv^<^ct persons 
to ordain, or to introduce other seniors into a participa.;.jn of the 
oversight or ministry of the community. Those already ordained 
will, for the brotherhood, always act in such matters. They are the 
standing presbytery or senate of the congregation. It was, however, 
expedient, in our judgment, to select the most difficult case, and one 
that will place the true fountain of all official authority in the boldest 
relief before the brotherhood. 

'' No one can say that such officers, so nominated, elected, and or- 
dained by the people, have not full ecclesiastic authority and right 
to officiate in behalf of the congregation, because they are of their 
own choice and ordination. Neither can it be said with a due regard 
to what is written by the apostles, that such officers have not the au- 
thority of the head of the church, as well as of the brethren, to ad- 
minister the affairs of the congregation, for they are of the Lord's choice 
and ordination. They are persons chosen by the Lord and the people. 
They are ordained by the Lord and the people ; because the laws of 
the Lord are consulted and obeyed, in the whole affair, by the people 

"The jurisdiction of such bishops is always circumscribed by the 
congregation which ordained them. A single church is the largest 
diocese known in the New Testament. Neither does his election 
and ordination give him an indelible character, nor a perpetual 
office. Should he leave the church, which, under the direction of 
the Holy Spirit, created him and become a member of another 
church, he enters it as a private member, and so continues until that 
church elect and ordain him, should they call for his services. The 
bishops and deacons of the church in Philippi were the bishops and 
deacons of the church in Philippi, and of no other church ; and so of 
Ephesus, Antioch, Rome, and Jerusalem, 

" Of the bishops of a large congregation it will generally, perhaps 
always, happen that one of them will be eminent above the others. 
Character, age, talent, information, will inevitably bestow superiority 
in some respects. Although all the presbyters or eldership are equal 
in authority, some one will occasionally be president of the meeting ; 



366 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

and, perhaps, one may become standing president. This is inevita- 
ble. Although all the apostles were equal in authority, among them 
there were some called pillars ; and of these one was more influential 
than the others. Among the first twelve, Peter, James, and John 
were regarded by the whole Christian community as ^pillars ' of high 
reputation. In the great meeting in Jerusalem, when Paul and 
Silas went as delegates from the church in Antioch, in behalf of the 
Syrian Christians ; and when a general meeting was called of all the 
apostles, elders, and the whole congregation; and after there had 
been ' much debate,'' Peter and James spoke once, and all were silent. 
The weight of their judgment settled the controversy. Paul became 
the chief of all the apostles, not in church authority, but in influence ; 
because of his extraordinary talents, labors, and spotless reputation. 
If so then, amongst the ambassadors of heaven, why should we 
think it strange, if now, in a congregation having twelve or twenty 
elders, one should, by common feeling and common consent, become 
president of the senate"'- or eldership of the whole community. 

"By translating this influence and presidencj^ to mean church au- 
thority, and not distinguishing betAveen moral influence and ecclesi- 
astic power, before the end of the second century they called the 
president bishop ^tlie bishop,^ and the others were commonly regarded 
only as the eldership, and finally the bishop became the only bishop, 
and his jurisdiction was extended first over the city — then over its 
suburbs — then over its vicinity — then over the province^then over 
the kingdom— then over the empire— then over the world, until it 
ended in ' His Holiness, the Fatlier universal,'' or 'the Pope.' 

" Ptill, it is a fact that only one person can preside at a time in one 
congregation ; and it is unavoidable but that the most gifted and dig- 
nified will most generally preside when present, for the congregation 
will have it so. But confine this presidency, even though it should 
become. stated, within its constitutional limits (a single congregation), 
and a pope will never be born. 

"In all societies this presidency will obtain. It obtains in all re- 
publics ; it obtained even in the fierce democracy of' Greece — in the 
Eoman Eepublic ; it now obtains in the American Eepublics during 
the tenure of office. The Senate has its president ; a committee has 
its chairman ; the Supreme Court, and all the courts down to that of 
Common Pleas, have their president judges. It obtained in the com- 
monwealth of Israel, in the time of Moses, in the time of Joshua, in 



*The Greek vioxdi presbuterion found three times in the New Testament, may be 
rendered either senate, presbytery, or eldership. 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 367 

the time of the Judges, in the time of the kings, in the time of the 
captivity, in the time when it was a Roman province. 

" There are hierarchs in the skies. In heaven among angels there 
are thrones, dominions, principalities ana powers. In the church the 
Lord gave first, apostles ; secondly, prophets ; thirdly, teachers ; then 
various helpers. And when the church arrived at its manhood state 
on earth, there were private persons — deacons — bishops; and of 
these bishops, though alike in power, one generally presided, and to 
this it as naturally tends as do the waters to the sea ; and it is best 
so, provided only, all is done with know^ledge, good understanding, 
good spirit — without pride and lordship in him that presides — and 
without envy, and jealousy, and evil surmising among the bishops 
and in the congregation. And be it observed with all emphasis, that 
there is no order of things, divine or human, that, in this earthly state, can 
wholly exclude occasions or opportunities for the display of these evil pas- 
sions. Moses and Aaron were envied, Joseph was envied, Jesus was 
envied, Paul was envied, and some of his acquaintance even preached 
Christ through envy. Humility, condescension, brotherly kindness, 
paternal solicitude for all the brotherhood, and a profound regard to 
the model Christ Jesus the Lord of all, are the only shield and defense 
against the workings of evil passions." 

IN THE PRESENTATION OF OUR VIEY.^S 

on this subject, it may not be out of place to suggest a 
few points in which all parties are agreed ; for to us it 
is much more pleasant to see where brethren agree and 
dwell together in unity than it is to look at points of 
difference. 

(1) It is believed, by all who accept the Bible as -a 
revelation from God, that the church is a system of 
government established by God's authority on the 
earth. 

(2) It is agreed by all parties that there can be no 
such thing as government without laivs for the govern- 
ment, and protection of the subjects for whose benefit 
the government is established. 

(3) It will be admitted that God has provided laws 



368 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

for the government of his people, and that these laws 
are revealed in the Bible — the word of God. 

(4) It will be further admitted that God has pro- 
vided no laws which are worth any thing to his peo- 
ple unless obeyed by them. 

(5) "We suppose we may assume it as further agreed 
that in every government, whether of human or di- 
vine origin, there are things to be done which every 
one cannot do. While it may be admitted that every 
one is authorized to do every thing, it is certain that 
there are things which not every one can do, and this 
is one reason why organization and co-operative effort 
are necessary. 

(G) When a congregation has been fully organized 
for the worsliip of God, we suppose that all will agree 
that there is some work in which all cannot engage, at 
least at one time, though it be granted that every one 
is fully authorized to do it. 

(7) We suppose it will be agreed further that such 
work must be done by some one or more for the benefit 
of the congregation. There may be controversy about 
who should do the work, and how he or they should be 
selected; but that it should be done by some one or 
more for the congregation, is, we suppose, beyond ques- 
tion or doubt. 

(8) Finally, it will be admitted, that in every govern- 
ment there will be persons negligent of duty, and still 
others who will violate law. To suppose that every one 
will be faithful in the discharge of duty, and in the ob- 
servance of law, is to suppose a degree of perfection in 
human character not found in every member of any com- 
munity ; hence, the necessity for some one or more 
whose special business it is to execute the law — to ad- 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 369 

monish and encourage the negligent, reform the way- 
ward, and punish the persistently rebellious. 

But I may be told that " it is the duty of every mem- 
ber of the family of God to watch over and encourage 
his wayward brother." So it is the duty of every good 
citizen of the State to use his influence in promoting 
peace and good will among his neighbors, and the ob- 
servance of law by every citizen ; still there must be 
persons whose special duty it is to execute the law, and 
without them the State would rapidly drift into an- 
archy and ruin. Is not this as true of the church as of 
the State ? Though we were to admit at every breath 
that every one qualified is authorized to do it, yet the 
fact still remains that some by nature, and others by 
their own neglect to use the means of spiritual growth 
which God has put within their reach, are incompetent 
for the work, then who shall do it .? Am I told that 
those best qualified for the work shall do it? I then 
ask, who shall judge of, and decide upon the qualifica- 
tions of the party who shall undertake the work ? l^ot 
every one for himself, surel}^ ; for, as Brother Campbell 
has well remarked, the one least qualified will likely be 
the first to volunteer his services. Do you say the 
church shall make the selection? So do I. Then what 
shall ive call these parties thus selected to take the over- 
sight of the flock, and do such other work as the church 
needs to have done by persons of its own selection for 
that purpose ? and how shall the congregation select 
and consecrate them to the work ? 

When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he 
addressed it "to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are 
at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." Phil, i : 1. 
By this language we understand that there were hishop)S 
and deacons in the church at Philippi ; and that these 
24 



370 GOSPEL SEKMONS. 

classes are not included in the idea of discipleship alone, 
for the phrase, " all the saints in Christ Jesus which are 
at Philippi," would certainly have included all the dis- 
ciples who were there as disciples only, and the phrase, 
" with the bishops and deacons,'' would be meaningless 
if nothing more was meant by these titles than disci- 
ples of Jesus. The text certainly warrants the conclu- 
sion that all bishops and deacons are saints, but all the 
saints in Christ eTesus are not bishops and deacons. To 
borrow an illustration used by another, " all judges are 
lawyers, but all lawyers are not judges." This is plain 
enough; but what is implied by these terms ? 

A bishop is an overseer — one who takes the oversight 
of others. This is a part of the work which we found 
the church must select some one to do ; hence, we call 
the one who does it a bishop. But what is an overseer? 
One whose duty it is to take the oversight of others — 
teach them what to do — how to do the work assigned 
them, and then see that they do it ; and to so rule them 
as to keep good order among them while doing the will 
of the Master. Then this is the work of a bishop — to 
teach the members their duty, and see that they do it, 
and to rule them in accordance with the Master's will. 
Bnt we find another name applied to those who do this 
work. Paul says: ''Let the elders that rule well be 
counted worthy of double honor, especially they who 
labor in the word and doctrine." 1 Tim. v: 17. What 
does this word mean ? Literally it is the comparative 
of old ; hence, an elder is an aged person. But the el- 
ders that rule well are to be counted worthy of double 
honor. First, it is right to honor them on account of 
their age, we as should honor all old men. Secondly, it 
is right to honor them for their work's sake — ruling 
well ; thus they are entitled to double honor. But only 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 371 

the elders who rule well are entitled to this double 
honor ; hence, there are elders who do not rule well, 
perhaps do not rule at all. Then some elders rule, and 
we have found that ruling is at least a part of the 
hishop's work ; hence, these ruling elders are aged per- 
sons ^N\\o have been called to the work of bishops. 
Brother Campbell says the terms bishop and elder are some- 
times used interchangeably to designate the same per- 
son. In Smith's Bible Dictionary we have the follow- 
ing language : " When the organization of the Chris- 
tian Churches in Gentile cities uivolved the assignment 
of the work of pastoral superintendence to a distinct 
order, the title ejpiscopos presented itself as at once con- 
venient and familiar, and was therefore adopted as 
readily as the word elder (presbuteros) had been in the 
mother church at Jerusalem. That the two titles were 
originally equivalent, is clear from the following facts : 
(1) Bishops and elders are nowhere named together as 
being orders distinct from each other. (2) Bishops and 
deacons are named as apparently an exhaustive division 
of the officers of churches addressed by Paul. Phil, i : 
1; 1 Tim. iii : 1-8. (3) The same persons are described 
by both names. Acts xx: 17-28. Tit. i : 5-8." 

In Acts XX : 17, it is said: ''And from Miletus he 
sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church, and 
at the twenty-eighth verse he tells them, " Take heed, 
therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over 
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed 
the church of God, which he hath purchased with his 
own blood." We need not tell the reader that the word 
overseers is from the plural of the same word elsewhere 
rendered bishop, and might have been here rendered 
bishops just as well as overseers, showing that the elders 
of the seventeenth verse were the overseers or bishops 



372 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

of the twenty-eightli verse. To Titus Paul says : " For 
this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set 
in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders 
in every city, as I have appointed thee. If any be 
blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful chil- 
dren not accused of riot or unruly — for a bishop must 
be blameless as the steward of God — not self-willed, not 
soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to 
filthy lucre ; holding fast the faithful word as he hath 
been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, 
both to exhort and convince the gainsayers." Titus i : 
5-9. Here Paul substantially tells Titus to ordain elders 
in every city if he could find any who were blameless, 
for a bishop must be blameless, thus clearly showing 
that he used the words elder and bishop interchangeably, 
and that the elders ordained by Titus were bishops. 

There is but one other solution possible, that is that 
he was to ordain elders to the office of bishop. We do 
not think this exactly the thought intended, though 
possibly it may be. Suppose we were to say the County 
Court ordained judges of the election, when did the par- 
ties become judges of the election? When they were or- 
dained^ and not before. It was the act of the court that 
made them judges. Then when Titus ordained elders 
in every city, was it not his act that made them elders? 
The cases look to us exactly similar. True it is that 
these elders were bishops when ordained, because Paul 
meant the same by both terms in this connection at 
least. This is plain enough. 

We frankly admit that the word elder primarily means 
older, but words often have an appropriated meaning, 
and in such cases they cannot be used in their primary 
signification. The word soul primarily means the im- 
mortal part of man, but it is often used to indicate the 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 373 

whole mau, as when Adam became a living soul, that is 
a living man. 

Again : " The soul w^hich hath touched any such shall 
be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy 
things, unless he wash his flesh with water." Lev. xxii : 6. 
Innumerable examples might be cited in which words 
are used in an accommodated sense ; hence as bishops 
were always old men, they might very naturally be 
called elders just as the word soul, primarily meaning 
only a part, should be used to indicate the whole man. 
While it is certainly true that not every elder is a 
bishop when the word elder is used in its primary sense, 
but it is equally true that every bishop is an elder, and 
may be called either bishop or elder without any violence 
to the common usage of language. Certainly no one 
will object to this thought on th,e ground of applying 
two titles to the same officer (or person if it is preferred), 
for it would be insulting to common sense to give ex- 
amples of even a half-dozen titles to the same party 
when the merest tyro knows this is often done. 

But we have used the word office, and as this word is 
objectionable to some, we must pause long enough to ex- 
amine it a little. But really this seems to us the least im- 
portant part of our investigation ; for if we have the right 
man, scripturally selected and set apart to the work of 
a bishop or a deacon, as the case maybe, so that he may 
appreciate the responsibility of his position, and promptly 
and efficiently perform it, it would seem to be a matter 
of little importance whether we call him an elder, a 
bishop, an overseer, an officer, or a servant. If elected 
or chosen by the congregation, and scripturally set 
apart to do the work for the congregation, he would be 
an officer whether we call him an officer or not. It 
matters not by what process he be selected by the con- 



374 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

gregatioiijhe is still an officer in the correct use of tliat 
term ; hence much of what has been said and written 
about officers and official service in the church, has been 
'' much ado about nothing." The far more important 
matters are : (1) Has the congregation scriptural author- 
ity, either by command or example, to select any one or 
more of its members to do any work for the congrega- 
tion or community ? and (2) if the congregation has 
such authority, how^ shall the selection be made ? and 
(3) shall he be consecrated to the work? If so, how? 

But to return. Are there officers in the church of 
God ? Paul says : " If a man desire the office of a 
bishop he desireth a good work." " Let these also first 
be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon being 
found blameless." " For they that have used the office 
of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, 
and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ 
Jesus." 1 Tim- iii : 1, 10, 13. Here we have the offices 
of bishop and deacon ; and, surely, if any one fill the 
office by divine authority, he is an officer. This is plain 
enough, w^e suppose. 

But while this is admitted to be the teaching of the 
common version of the New Testament, it is claimed 
that there is no word in the original w^hich means either 
office or offi.cer. 

We suppose it will be admitted that we can know 
nothing of the meaning of Greek words only as lexi- 
cographers define them for us. We open our Greek 
New Testament at 1 Tim. iii : 1, and find the word epis- 
kopes ; what does this word mean ? Without a lexicon 
we do not know, but with a lexicon we may know. 
Pickering defines it : " An inspection, superintendence, 
the office of bishop, N. T.'' Thus the learned lexicogra- 
pher tells us it does mean office, and not only office, but 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 375 

the office of bishojy. In the next verse we find the word 
episkopon translated bishop. This word, from the same 
root, Pickering defines : " An inspection, the ofiice of 
an inspector and overseer, a keeper, a guardian * * 
* a bishop." There are no lexicons known to us which 
do not substantially agree with the foregoing definition ; 
and it tells us that the words found in the original do 
mean a bishoj), and the office of a bishop. We are not 
able to command a sufi^icient amount of courage to an- 
tagonize all the lexicons with reference to the meaning 
of Greek words, of which we can know nothing only as 
defined for us by them. 

But we are told that ofiice means ivoj^k. We suppose 
this notion grows out of Paul's remark, that " if a man 
desire the ofiice of a bishop, he desireth a good work." 
1 Tim. iii : 1. Does this prove that there is no such 
thing as the office of bishop ? The manifest meaning 
of the passage is, that the work pertaining to the bish- 
op's ofiice is a good work. We suppose there is not an 
ofiSice on the earth, in any government, human or divine, 
that has not work connected with it. Officers are made 
for the purpose of doing the work of the office. Were this 
not true, there would be no use for officers ; nor would 
there be au}^ such thing as an office. 

Paul says : " All members have not the same office." 
Koni. xii : 4. Here the word office is from the word 
praxin, which does mea.n ivork, action, use, etc. ]^ow, if 
Paul had meant simply work, without the idea of office 
in 1 Tim. iii : 1, why did he not use the sam^ word 
praxis in some of its forms? This would have settled 
the matter beyond dispute. In making the New Ver- 
sion the revisers retain the word office. The American 
revisers, in their suggested changes, ofiered no objection 
to this rendering, showing that it met their approval. 



376 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

This is not conclusive, we grant, but it is a circumstance 
entitled to some consideration ; for we suppose there is 
not riper scholarship on earth than was employed in 
that revision. We have the same word in Acts i : 20, 
rendered bishoprick. "^ His bishoprick let another take." 
The 'New Version has this office. " His office let another 
take." And this is right — unquestionably right. Then 
if the apostleship may be called an office, why not have 
the idea of office in the same word where it is used to 
indicate another office ? We are wholly unable to see 
why. We are sure there is nothing in the context for- 
bidding the common rendering, " office of a bishop." 

But suppose we were to dispense with the words office 
and officer, what then ? If we render the word inspec- 
tion, then this would be the office, and the inspector 
would be the officer. Suppose we should render it su- 
perintendence, this would be the office, and the super- 
intendent would be the officer. So if we render it over- 
sight, this would be the office, and the overseer would 
be the officer. So the idea of office and officer are in 
any rendering which might be given in harmony with 
the meaning given by the lexicons, whether we call it 
office or not. We have no recollection to have ever 
heard the overseer of our public roads called an officer, 
yet every one knows that he is an officer, and clothed 
with authority by the State to control and direct others 
in the performance of work for the public ,good ; and 
whether we ever call him an officer or not, changes not 
the nature of the fact. The same is true of every officer 
of the government, from president to postmaster. In- 
deed, we rarely call them officers, but simply president, 
governor, postmaster, etc., but still they are officers, 
whether we call them so or not ; so of bishops and dea- 
cons — they are officers because ordained to the perform- 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 377 

ance of work for the congregation or community; and 
though we were never to pronounce the word office or 
officer again in life, it would not change their relation 
to the church — they would be officers still. 

Suppose a man seeking an office at the hands of the 
president or governor were to say to one man, " I want 
the office." To another, '' I desire the appointment." 
To another, " I should be glad to get the position ; 
would any one suppose he had ahamdoned the desire for 
office, because he had changed his manner of expressing 
the desire ? Surely not. These are but different ways 
of expressing the same thought. The idea of office is 
in the mind of the speaker, whether expressed by office, 
appointment, or position. 

HOW OFEICERS ARE MADE BY THE CHURCH. 

We have seen that elders or bishops and deacons were 
in the church in the days of the apostles ? were they to 
pass away with the age of miracles ? or, were they to be 
co-existent with the church ? These questions, surely, 
need not detain us long, for every one must see at a 
glance that the necessity for them has not passed away, 
and, in the very nature of things, never can pass away. 
As long as it is necessary that the affairs of the church 
be attended to with decency and order, so long must 
the necessity for bishops and deacons remain. As long 
as men and women enter the church babes in Christ, it 
will be necessary for some one to feed the flock of God, 
and Ave have seen this to be the work of the overseers 
or bishops; and as long as widows, orphans, and the 
poor shall remain, the necessity for deacons will remain ; 
and wbo does not know that as long as the church shall 
exist on earth, these, with many other things demand- 
ing the work of bishops and deacons will remain, and 
the cburch cannot fill its Grod-appointed mission without 



378 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

them. Paul gave Timothy and Titus both, very specific 
directions as to the character of men to fill these ofiaces, 
without any intimation that there would come a time 
when they might be dispensed with ; on the contrary he 
told Timothy that he gave him these instructions in 
order that he might know how to behave himself in the 
church of God, in the event of his long absence from 
him. In a second letter he told Timothy to teach the 
things which he had heard of him among many wit- 
nesses to faithful men, that they might teach others 
also, showing that they, were to be transmitted from 
generation to generation perpetually. True, he saj^s, 
"" the things which thou hast heard of me among many 
witnesses," making it probable that he ma}^ not have 
referred to things written ; but if things spoken should 
be transmitted, we see not why things written to him 
should not be transmitted also for our learning, that we 
should profit by them. The epistolary writings of the 
apostles are replete with instructions as to the chai'acter 
of persons to be selected, and the work to be performed 
by them ; and the work assigned them is as necessary 
to-day as it ever has been; hence, if we may dispense 
with them, we see not why we may not close up our 
Bibles and abandon their teaching entirely. 

HOW SHALL BISHOPS AND DEACONS BE SELECTED ? 

Or, rather, how shall material be selected of which to 
make bishops and deacons ? Or, to be more plain, who 
shall make the selection ? and how shall they do it? 

As they are to serve the congregation^ we would very 
naturally conclude, even in the absence of inspired teach- 
ing on the subject, that they must be selected by the 
congregation in the interest of which they are to labor; 
but the divine volume is not a blank on this subject. It 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 379 

is admitted, by all students of the Bible, that inspired 
example is as much to be regarded as inspired precept ; 
and, hence, if we can find how the inspired teachers did 
any thing which we are to do at all, we must do it as 
they did ; or, if we can find where uninspired men did 
any thing which was approved by inspired men, this is 
a sufficient guide for us in the performance of the same 
work. We have all admitted, and all debaters and 
writers have admitted, that even infant baptism might be 
proved in either of these ways. Indeed, if apostolic 
example and approved precedent are not worthy of our 
imitation in the performance of the same work, then we 
are at sea without chart or compass to guide us in the 
greater part of our Christian voyage through life. All 
writers and public men of note admit this principle, but 
we are writing for the ^' multitude of the disciples," and 
Bome of them do not appreciate it ; hence, for their ben- 
efit we would impress it. 

When the seven deacons were to be selected in Jeru- 
rusalem, " the twelve called the multitude of the disciples 
unto them, and said. It is not reason that we should 
leave the word of God and serve tables; wherefore, 
brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest 
report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we 
may appoint over this business ; but we will give our- 
selves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the 
word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude and 
they chose Stephen," etc. Acts vi : 2-5. Here we 
learn that the apostles addressed the multitude of the dis- 
ciples, and told them, to look out the persons, and the 
saying pleased the whole multitude and they elected the 
parties to be appointed. 

On general principles, then, we learn that when per- 
sons were to be selected to serve the congregation, in 



380 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

any capacity, the whole multitude of disciples made the 
selection ; or, if you please, elected the parties, for elect 
simply means to choose or select. 

This is all plain enough as to the deacons, why may 
not the same principle apply to the selection of elders 
or hishops ? We see it did ohtain in the selection of 
Matthias to succeed Judas in the apostleship ; then if it 
ohtained in these cases of which we have a record, why 
shall we not conclude that it ohtained in all cases where 
the procedure is not recorded ? 

But we may be asked if Titus did not select the el- 
ders ordained in Crete ? We suppose not. He was 
commanded to ordain them, but it is not recorded that 
he selected them, or that he was commanded to do so. 
Paul gave him the qualifications of those to be ordained ; 
but we see no reason why he should not have instructed 
the multitude, and left the selection to them, as in the 
ease of the deacons at Jerusalem. Are we not bound 
to conclude that had there been any departure from the 
example recorded, the departure or exception would 
have been recorded also ? 

A good rule of Biblical interpretation, recognized 
among all critics is that obscure passages of Scripture 
must be interpreted in the light of plain passages on the 
same subject ; i. e. all doubtful passages and examples 
of action must be so construed as to harmonize with 
passages and examples the import of which is unambig 
uous and without doubt. With this rule before us we 
cannot leave the example given us in the selection of 
the seven deacons at Jerusalem, where the lesson taught 
is beyond the possibility of doubt, and seek for light 
where the method of procedure is not recorded. 

If, therefore, we find that some one, or more, was 
selected to serve the congregation m any matter, and the 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 381 

manner of selection is not given, we have a right to con- 
chide that the selection was made as in the example re- 
corded; and the fact that a record is given elsewhere, 
made it unnecessary to repeat it. 

HOW WAS THE WILL OF THE CONGREGATION EXPRESSED? 

That the will of the congregation was consulted in 
the selection of its servants we have seen clearly 
enough, hut just how their choice was expressed is a 
matter not so clearly revealed ; and it may he that the 
reason for this ohscurity is found in the tact that any 
method hy which the will of the congregation can he 
ascertained, in harmony with that decency and good 
order always to he observed in the house of God, will 
he admissible. Had the Master intended that one par- 
ticular method of expression should he adopted, it 
would, most likely, have been revealed in precept or 
example, somewhere. 

Paul speaks of a brother whose praise was in all the 
churches, "who was also chosen of the churches to 
travel with us." 2 Cor. viii : 19. Here was a choice or 
election of a person by the churches ; and while there is 
nothing in the English words choose and chosen to indi- 
cate the manner of choosing, yet in the Greek word 
here rendered chosen there may be light on this point. 
Chosen is here a translation of cheirotonetheis, which is a 
form of cheirotoneo, which Young defines, " to extend 
the hand (in voting)." See Young's Concordance on 
the word chosen. 2 Cor. viii : 19. While it is possible 
that this does not exhaust the meaning of this 
word, we can see no other reason for its employ- 
ment here than to express the manner of electing the 
person chosen. Taking this as true, it is entirely 
scriptural for the members of the congregation to ex- 



382 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

press their choice in matters of this character by voting 
with the hand. 

We are fully aware of the prejudices existing in the 
mind of good brethren against voting in the congrega- 
tion, yet we know of no better way of getting at the 
will of the congregation in many cases which may come 
before it, than to allow the members to express their 
choice by a vote. We are quite familiar with the ob- 
jections urged against voting, but the wisdom of heaven 
has never been able to suggest any thing against which 
objections cannot be brought. We know of no congre- 
gation which does not practice voting in some form. 
Suppose we say, in the congregation, that ^' if there is 
no objection by any one thus and so will be done." We 
pause for objection — none is made, and the thing is 
is done; did not the congregation, by its silence, vote 
for the thing to be done, just as clearly as if the ques- 
tion had been put before it in any other form, and voted 
upon in any other way ? Most assuredly it did ; and 
yet this is the general practice of those who object to 
voting ! We respectfully suggest that, in many cases, 
this is more objectionable than other methods of voting, 
for native timidity, and sometimes becoming modesty, 
will prevent those who really have objections from ris- 
ing in the congregation and giving expression to them, 
when if they could vote otherwise in common with the 
multitude, they Avould not hesitate to do it. 

Brother Campbell has given us some excellent 
thoughts in his Extra to the Harbinger for 1835, from 
which, by the reader's indulgence, we will reproduce an 
extract. But you will say, " Brother Campbell was 
not inspired.'' This is certainly true ; but you will 
agree with us that he was no insignificant judge of the 
teaching of men who were inspired ; and, hence, there 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 383 

are not many of us who might not profit by a perusal 
of what he wrote in the vigor of his manhood on any 
subject. 

A. CAMPBELL ON VOTING IN THE CHURCH. 

" Some Christians- are opposed to voting In the church. They 
only vote against voting ! They will give their voice, but say they 
will not vote. Now, upon a little reflection, it may, perhaps, appeaj 
to them that to vote and to give their voice, is identically one and 
the same thing. To express their mind or their wish on any ques- 
tion, is certainly to vote — whatever form may be chosen, whether 
standing up, stretching forth the hand, or simply saying yes or no, 
aye or nay. 

" Wherever there is an election, or choice of persons, or meas- 
ures, there must be voting, or a casting of the lot. To cast the 
lot is an appeal to heaven; and very extraordinary, indeed, must 
be the incident or the occasion that will justify such a solemn ap- 
peal, or such an irrevocable decision. 

" We need not labor to show that the Christians under the very 
eye, and with the approbation of the apostles, voted ; for the apostles 
commanded them to vote — to choose out persons for certain works, 
and M'ith reference to certain measures. But a question arises of 
some consequence — nay, of great consequence — On what occasions, 
and for what purposes are Christians authorized to vote ? 

•'They are not to vote on questions of faith, piety, or morality. 
Truth is not to be settled by a vote, nor is any divine institution, 
respecting the worship or morality of the Christian Church, to be 
decided by a majority. These are matters of revelation, of divine 
authority, and to be regulated by a ' thus saith the Lord,' and not 
by thus saith the majority. But in all matters not of faith, piety, 
or morality ; in all matters of expediency, and sometimes in ques- 
tions of fact pertaining to cases of discipline, there is no other 
way of deciding but by vote of the brotherhood. There is no rev- 
elation that A, B, or C shall be chosen elders or deacons ; that D, 
E, or F shall be sent on any special message ; that the church 
shall meet in any given place at any hour, or that this or that 
measure is to be adopted in reference to any particular duty aris- 
ing out of the internal or external relations to the church. 
Such matters are to be decided by the vote of the whole commu- 
nity or not at all. 

"How that vote shall bo given — whether bv stretching out the 



384 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

hand, as the Greek word found in Acts xiv: 13, and 2 Cor. viii: 
19, literally indicates; or whether by standing up, or saying aye^ 
or nay, may itself be a question of expediency, to be decided by a 
vote of the community. And certainly it matters not, in this in- 
stance, what the form be, provided only the mind of the church 
be clearly ascertained. 

" A matter of greater importance occurs : Must the church he al- 
ways unanimous before it acts upon any question of fact or expediency f 
While it is possible to be of one faith and of one hope, however 
desirable it may be, it is not to be expected that a congregation 
will always be of one mind in all questions of discipline or expe- 
diency which may occur in their earthly pilgrimage. Some, how- 
ever, will insist not only upon one opinion in matters of abstract 
speculation, but upon one mind in all matters of expediency. 

" In the New Testament we have the word which the Greeks used for 
majority sometimes translated 'the greater part' 1 Cor. xv: 6. 'The 
more.' Acts xix: 32; xxvii: 11. And 'the many.' 2 Cor. ii: 6. 
"Where the censure inflicted upon a certain individual is spoken of, it 
is rendered by McKnight * th£ majority : ' ' Suflicient for such an one 
is the censure inflicted by the majority ; plainly intimating that not 
every individual, but that a decided majority of the church had con- 
curred in the sentence pronounced. 

" True, indeed, that where there is much love and great devotion 
to the will of the Lord, there will be the greatest approaches to una- 
nimity in all ma;tters of great importance. The wisdom which comes 
from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be per- 
suaded. Self-willedness is no ornament of Christian character, and 
when each esteems his brother as better than himself, there will not 
be much earnestness displayed in striving to carry our views of expe- 
diency over the judgment of others. Besides it is sometimes inexpe- 
dient for the majority to carry all in its power. There may be occa- 
sions when it is better for the majority to waive its privilege than to 
carry its point. These, however, are matters which discretion and 
good sense must and will decide according to the bearing of all meas- 
ures upon the good order, peace, harmony, and prosperity of the 
brotherhood. All warmth and impassioned feeling in the house of 
God is disorderly ; and no church, acting under the guidance of the 
Good Spirit, will ever attempt hastily to decide a matter in the midst 
of the least excitement." 

ORDINATION OF DEACONS. 

Having seen that bishops and deacons were in the 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 385 

church by divine appointment in the days of the apos- 
tles, and that they were to be co-existent with the 
church, we come, now, to inquire how they were ap- 
pointed, ordained, separated, or set apart to their work. 

But we are told that the New Version has removed the 
word ordain from the New Testament, substituting ap- 
point in its place. And what of that ? Does that cut 
any figure in the investigation at all ? We cannot see 
how that affects the argument in any way. We have 
always had the word appoint in Acts vi : 3, w^ith ref- 
erence to the seven deacons ; and in their appointment 
the apostles prayed and laid their hands on them. 
They said they would appoint them, and this is what 
they did. Why shall we not do as they did ? This is 
the question. What was done ? and how was it done ? 

In the examination of this subject we propose to pur- 
sue the same methods of interpretation pursued on the 
subjects of conversion, baptism, the Holy Spirit, or any 
other subject of Biblical controversy. When we ex- 
amine the commission. we collate the conditions of par- 
don contained in it from all the reports given of it ; and 
conclude that while there may be more contained in it 
than is given in any one report, yet nothing contained 
in any report can be omitted. 

With this rule before us we get teaching, baptism, and 
the formula to be used, from Matthew. From Mark we 
get preaching , faith, baptism and salvation. From Luke 
we get preaching, repentance, remission of sins, and a 
place at which to begin. ]!!^ow, our rule requires us to 
take all the reports ; hence, collating the items, we have 
preaching, faith, repentance., baptism, into the names of 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the remission of sins 
beginning at Jerusalem. But if we are in doubt as to 
the meaning of the commission we will go with the 
25 



386 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

the apostles, to whom it was given, and see what they 
did in obedience to it. l!^or will we stop with the ex- 
amination of a single case, but we will examine all the 
cases recorded, and collate, from them, all the condi- 
tions of pardon required of them who were converted 
by the preaching of these inspired teachers ; and thus 
we can unmistakably learn what was meant by the com- 
mission under which they acted. We will also notice 
how they obeyed the commands given b}^ these inspired 
men ; and if we find that they went down into the water 
to be baptized, and came up out of the water after they 
v^rere baptized, we will conclude that this was author- 
ized by the commission, and we will try to do as taught 
in the exam/pies recorded. We will not get alarmed be- 
cause inspired men did the work, for they did many 
things enjoined upon us ; hence, what they did, and how 
they did it, is just what we want to know, that we 
may follow the examples left by them as nearly as pos- 
sible. That this is a safe rule of interpretation, leading 
to safe conclusions, is admitted from the rising to the 
setting of the sun — from the rivers to the ends of the 
earth ; then let us keep it constantly before us while we 
see what was done in ordaining or appointing disciples 
of Jesus to the work of bishops and deacons. 

Addressing the multitude of disciples the apostles 
said : " Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you 
seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and 
wisdom whom we may appoint over this business." 
Acts vi : 3. 

On another occasion, while the disciples ministered 
to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, " Separate 
me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have 
called them." Acts xiii : 2. 

Again it is said : '' When they had ordained them el- 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 387 

ders in every church." Acts xiv : 23. Here we have 
the words appoint, separate, and ordain, used to indicate 
the consecration of persons to the work of deacons, 
evangelists, and elders or bishops~^we will, therefore, use 
them interchangeably, supposing them, in the foregoing 
quotations, to mean substantially the same thing ; and 
we admit, at the beginning, that there is nothing in 
either of them indicating the manner of appointing, sep- 
arating, or ordaining the persons. This can be learned 
only by an examination of recorded examples left for 
our instruction. Webster defines the word ordain as 
meaning " to set in order ; to arrange according to rule ; 
to regulate; to set; to establish. To appoint; to de- 
cree ; to enact ; to institute. To set apart for an office ; 
to constitute. Especially, to invest with ministerial or 
sacerdotal functions ; to introduce into the office of the 
Christian ministry, by laying on of hands or other ap- 
propriate forms." But Mr. Webster doubtless defined 
the word according to modern usage ; hence, the value 
of his definition depends upon whether or not it 
is sustained by the practice of inspired men. To this 
practice we go, then, feeling assured that the words 
used by divine wisdom are not meaningless, and that 
something was done as indicated by them. 

When the apostles commanded the multitude of dis- 
ciples to select the seven men to be appointed over the 
business before them, ''the saying pleased the whole 
multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith 
and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and 
Kicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and iN'icolas, a 
proselyte of Antioch ; whom they set before the apostles ; 
and when they had prayed they laid their hands on 
them." Acts vi : 5, 6. What did the apostles propose 
to do ? They said they would appoint the men when 



388 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

selected. When they were selected and placed before 
them what did they do ? They jprayed and laid their 
hands on them. This is what was done in appointing 
them, and was, therefore, the appointment. If this was 
not the appointment, what was ? Certainly there was 
something done — what was it ? Do you tell me you do 
not know? Then you are like the witnesses who slept 
over the grave of Jesus — not competent to answer the 
question or take position on it. We do know that they 
prayed and laid their hands on them, for the Book of 
God says so. More may have been done, but this was 
certainly done ; are we at liberty to leave it undone ? Is 
it not more safe to do as they did ? 

But we are told that the words translated " laid their 
hands on them," should have been translated " extended 
their hands to them." Then why do not those who 
make the objection practice what they preach — pray and 
extend their hands to them. Even this rendering can- 
not justify doing nothing at all. Had this been the 
thought, the Spirit could have said it as easily as what 
it did say. When the right hand of fellowship was 
given to Paul and Barnabas, (Gal. ii: 9) words were 
found with which to clearly express it ; an4 had the 
same words been used in connection with ordination, 
there would have been no ambiguity about them ; and 
surely they would have been employed if this had been 
what was done. 

We have the words laid on from the word epitithemi, 
which is composed of a preposition epi, meaning on or 
upon, and a verb tithemi, to lay, place or put ; hence, 
the word epitithemi literally means to lay on, place on, 
or put on. There is nothing in the word to determine 
what is laid on — this is determined by the noun to which 
reference is made in each particular case. It may be a 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 389 

hand, a burden, punishment, or figuratively a name, etc. 
Will the reader please open Young's Concordance at 
the word lay^ and examine the connections in which it 
is from the word epitithemi as found in that great work? 
For the benefit of snah. readers as have not the book we 
will transcribe every such occurrence of the word. 
18 come and lay thy hand upon her 
15 he laid his hands on them, and departed 

4 lay on men's shoulders, but they 
23 come and lay thy hands on her 

5 save that he laid his hands upon a few 

18 they shall lay hands on the sick 
40 he laid his hands on every one of them 
13 he laid his hands on her 

5 and he layeth it on his shoulder 

26 on him they laid the cross 

6 they had prayed they laid their hands an them 
17 then they laid their hands on them 

19 that on whomsoever I lay hands 
3 laid their hands on them, they sent them 

28 to lay upon you no greater burden than 
23 when they had laid many stripes upon them 
6 when Paul had laid his hands upon them 
3 had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them 

on the fire 
8 and laid his hands on him and healed him 
22 Lay hands suddenly on no man 
17 he laid his right hand upon me 
Will the reader carefully examine these examples of 
the word epitithemi ? Was the cross extended to Simon, 
but not laid on him ? Were the stripes extended to 
Paul and Silas, but not laid on them ? Were the sticks 
extended to the fire, but not laid on it ? Please note 
the fact that it is the same word rendered laid on in con- 
ferring spiritual gifts ; and if it does not mean laid on 
in ordination, it does not in conferring gifts either. It 
occurs forty-two times in the Greek ^N'ew Testament, 
but is never once rendered extend or give in connection 
with hands or any thing else. Indeed, there is no ex- 



Matt. 


IX : 


" 


xix: 


(( 


xxiii : 


Mark 


v: 


<( 


vi: 


<< 


xvi: 


Luke 


iv: 


ii 


xiii: 


(( 


XV : 


« 


xxiii: 


Acts 


vi: 


a 


viii: 


ti 


viii: 


« 


xiii: 


(( 


XV : 


« 


xvi: 


n 


xix: 


« xxviii: 


" xxviii : 


ITim, 


v: 


Eev. 


i: 



390 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

ample of it which might not be rendered pw^ on, laid on, 
or placed on in some of their forms. 

But there has been quite a change of front on this 
subject in the last few years. For a time hands were 
not laid on the seven deacons at all ; but simply ex- 
tended to them as in giving the hand of fellowship; 
but more recently it is admitted that hands were laid on, 
but not in connection with their ordination, but for the 
purpose of conferring spiritual gifts. While this shift- 
ing of ground gives evidence of a want of clear and set- 
tled convictions on the subject, it still becomes us to ex- 
amine the theory that we may see W'hat claims, if any, 
it has to our acceptance. 

That apostolic hands were laid on for the purpose of 
imparting spiritual gifts is certainly true ; but that they 
were ahvays laid on for this purpose is assumption 
wholly wanting in proof. There was a murmuring ot the 
Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were 
neglected in the daily distribution of food. The apostles 
ordered the multitude to select seven men to be appointed 
over this business. What business? The working of 
miracles? ISTo, but to supply the tables of the Grecian 
widows. The persons were selected and presented to 
the apostles for their action. They were to appoint 
them ; but as yet they had done nothing. True, they had 
given the qualifications of the parties to be selected, and 
had ordered the selection to be made; but they pro- 
posed to appoint after the selection — not before it. The 
selection was no part of the appointment, for the mul- 
titude was to do that. IN^ow the subjects are ready for 
appointment — what w^as done ? They prayed and laid 
their hands on them. For what ? To appoint them. Ap- 
point them for what ? To work miracles ? No, but to 
attend to this business. What business ? To supply 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 391 

the tables of the Grecian widows. Then hands were 
not laid on them to impart spiritual gifts to them ; but 
to separate or appoint them to this business. If this is 
not clear, then Holy Writ can make nothing clear. 
We have no evidence that the subject of spiritual gifts 
was before them on that occasion at all. 

But we are asked : " What good can it do to lay on 
hands if the party is not supernaturally endowed by it? " 
This question has been asked about baptism until even 
our opponents have become ashamed of it. " If there is 
no efficacy in water to wash away sins, what good can 
it do to be baptized for the remission of sins ? " What 
good can it do to obey God at all ? If God has com- 
manded us to do a thing, or left us such examples as 
clearly teach us to do it, shall we stop to debate the ques- 
tion with him as to what good it will do ? The truly 
loyal servant learns the will of the master and goes 
about the work, whether he can see any good it will do 
or not. The master's will is reason enough for him 
who would honor the master. 

But does it do no good to solemnly impress any one 
with the responsibility of his position, and the import- 
ance of the work assigned him? All governments, in 
all ages and countries, whether of human or divine ori- 
gin, have had their ceremonies of consecration, installa- 
tion, coronation, inauguration, etc., for the purpose of sol- 
emnly impressing those inducted into office with the 
responsibility of the position about to be assumed ; and 
they seek to make them so impressive as never to be 
forgotten. Perhaps the seven deacons ordained at Je- 
rusalem could have sujDplied the Grecian widows with 
food before they were ordained if they would, but they 
did not do it, we suppose, because they had never been 
specially assigned to that work, and made to realize 



392 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

that the congregation expected them to do it ; but when 
they were thus solemnly set apart, we hear of no more 
neglect or complaint about it. 

So it is to-day ; persons may be fully competent to do 
the work of bishops and deacons, but until they are set 
apart to the work, and solemnly impressed with the re- 
sponsibility of their position, and made to feel that 
the congregation expects them to do that work, they will 
not be likely to do it ; and hence it will generally go 
undone ; or, if done at all, it will be done without that 
system and order that should ever characterize a gov- 
ernment of which God is the author. This reason, if 
there were no others, would abundantly vindicate the 
wisdom of God in requiring the ordination of officers in 
the church. 

But we are told that the " imposition of hands on the 
seven deacons at Jerusalem was for the impartation of 
spiritual gifts, because they did not possess this power 
before that event, and did possess it afterward." Then 
we would inquire of the objector how he knows that 
they did not possess supernatural power or spiritual 
gifts before that time ? Is it because we have no ac- 
count of its exercise by them before that time ? This 
may not be quite conclusive. If any one will find a 
record of the miracles performed hy jive of them after 
hands were laid on them, he will likely find in the next 
verse an account of the miracles wrought by.all of them 
before their appointment to the deacon's office. 

There is no record of any miracle performed by any 
of the seven, except Stephen and Philip. Shall we 
conclude, therefore, that the other five performed none ? 
Shall we conclude that Stephen and Philip received 
miraculous power when hands were laid on the seven, 
and that the other five did not receive it because there 



CHURCH ORUANIZATION. 393 

is no record of its exercise bj them ? This is unreason- 
able, and cannot be accepted. Then shall we conclude 
that all of them received and exercised spiritual gifts, 
but there was nothing connected with what five of them 
did, which was of sufficient importance to make it nec- 
essary to record it ? When this position is taken the 
assumption falls to the ground that the seven did not 
possess supernatural power before ordination, because 
there is no record of its exercise by them. 

We suppose that if all the miracles, wrought by those 
who were supernaturally endowed in the days of the 
apostles, had been recorded, " the world would not have 
contained the books." Were there not special reasons 
why the miraculous power exhibited by Stephen and 
Philip was recorded? Stephen was the first martyr to 
the faith of the gospel, and the record of his glorious 
death would have been incomplete without his super- 
natural vision of heaven. In recording the conversion 
of the Samaritans, it was necessary to report the mira- 
cles which Philip did in confirmation of his preaching 
there. But for these events we might never have 
known that a miracle was performed by any of the 
seven ; hence, the silence of the Scriptures on the sub- 
ject is not conclusive proof that the seven had not su- 
pernatural power before their ordination to the deacon's 
office. Assumptions are a cheap commodity. 

What are the probabilities on the subject ? That the 
apostles had the power to convey these spiritual gifts is 
very certain ; and it seems to have been their custom 
to confer them, if not upon all, certainly upon a large 
number of the primitive disciples as soon as converted. 
As soon as Samaria received the word of God, Peter 
and John were sent there for the purpose of conferring 
this measure of the spirit upon the converts at that 



394 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

place. Then is it not entirely reasonable that the faith 
of the disciples, who were converted at Jerusalem when 
the church was in its infancy, w^as confirmed in the 
same way ? 

One of the first questions asked by Paul of the disci- 
ples found at Ephesus was : " Have ye received the 
Holy Ghost since ye believed?" This shows that the 
disciples generally did receive it, and were expected to 
have it; and, doubtless, had they been converted by an 
apostle instead of Apollos, who knew only the system 
of thuigs taught by John, they would have received it 
before Paul saw them. Cei^tain it is that Paul con- 
ferred it upon them very soon after he reached them. 
He longed to see his brethren at Eome, that he might 
impart to them some spiritual gift to the end that they 
might be established. Seeing, then, that it was the cus- 
tom of the apostles to confer this power on the early 
converts as soon as they had opportunity, why should 
the seven have been exceptions to the custom, especially as 
they were daily in the company of the apostles ? They 
were prominent men among the disciples, of honest re- 
port, full of the Ploly Ghost and wisdom ; hence, that 
they were abundantly endowed with spiritual gifts before 
their ordination is much more probable than that they 
received spiritual gifts by imposition of hands at the 
time of their appointment to the deaconship. Indeed, 
this is not probable at all. 

By the way, we are told that Ananias conferred this 
supernatural power on Saul when he laid his hands on 
him, because he said: "Brother Saul, the Lord, even 
Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou 
camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy 
sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." Acts ix : 17. 
The fallacy of this conclusion will appear in due time — 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 395 

for the present we only call attention to it here to show 
the very liberal methods of reasoning on this subject. 
To be he filled with the Holy Ghost means abundantly en- 
dowed with spiritual gifts when spoken by Ananias to 
Saul ; but full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom only means 
earnest and intelligent Christians when spoken by the 
apostles concerning those of whom they proposed to 
make deacons ; hence they never had any spiritual gifts 
until hands were laid on them in their ordination ! The 
blinding influences of a false theory are truly astonish- 
ing, even on the e^^es of good brethren ; they ought to 
have great forbearance with those blinded by an entire 
system of error. 

But an objector says : " God hath set the members in 
the body as it hath pleased him." Certainly he did ; 
but he sets no one in the body, nor in any position in 
the body, only in accordance with law, administered by 
the body. What the body or church does according to 
law, he does. We have seen that it pleased him to set 
deacons in office by prayer and the imposition of hands, 
and it occurs to us that we ought to be pleased with 
what pleases him. 

But " we are to grow up into him in all things." 
Certainly we are to grow from babes in Christ to the 
stature of men ; but does this prove that competent dis- 
ciples are not to be ordained to any specific office or 
work ? James A. Garfield grew up from a common 
school teacher to the presidency of the United States ; 
but docvs this prove that the ceremonies of inauguration 
were dispensed with when he was inducted into the 
office of president ? Growth in grace and knowledge 
has nothing to do with ordination to office, only in pre- 
paring the party for it ; it is no part of it. 

IN'o one believes more earnestly in spiritual growth 



396 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

than we do ; and for this very reason we want officers to 
administer the aiiairs of the church so that its members 
may grow. We want the flock watched over and fed, 
that the lambs may not perish, nor be devoured by the 
wolves. Ever}^ one knows that large numbers of those 
introduced into the family of God every year, go back 
into the world, for want of an efficient eldership to look 
after and care for them ; and this we will never have 
until they are made in God's appointed way. 

ELDERS, OR BISHOPS. 

We have seen that when Paul called the elders of the 
church at Ephesus, he told them to take heed to them- 
selves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost 
had made them overseers. The word overseers is from 
episkopos, elsewhere rendered bishops ; hence, these el- 
ders, were, by the Holy Spirit, made bishops or over- 
seers ; but when or how they had been so made is not 
here stated. We suppose the Holy Spirit made them 
overseers just like it separated Paul and Barnabas to the 
work to which it called them ; how this was done we 
will see in due time. Paul left Titus in Crete to ordain 
elders in every city, if he could find any blameless ; giv- 
ing as a reason that bishops must be blameless, thus 
using the terms elder and bishop interchangeably to 
designate the same persons. But here, again, we are 
not told how Titus was to ordain them, or what he was 
to do in ordaining them. 

But we are told that tithemi, here rendered ordain, 
means to lay, put, or place ; hence, Titus was simply to 
place the seniors in their proper places in the congrega- 
tions. Well, the context clearly shows that the proper 
place for the parties to be ordained here was in the of- 
fice of bishop, and there can be no doubt that Paul in- 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 397 

tended Titus to put them there ; but that Paul meant 
nothing more than old men by the term elders in this 
connection, is not only inconsistent with the context, 
but clearly inconsistent with the subsequent instruction 
given to Titus as well. In the opening of the next 
chapter he told him what to say to the seniors, as such ; 
and he uses a very different style to that used to desig- 
nate the parties to be ordained. He says : " But speak 
thou the things which become sound doctrine : that 
the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in 
faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women like- 
wise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, 
not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of 
good things." Titus ii : 1-3. Here he speaks of the 
seniors as such ; and he calls them aged men, aged wo- 
men ; and told Titus to teach them how to live ; but 
when speaking of the elders to be ordained, he spec- 
ified the character which they must have before ordi- 
nation, that they might be eligible to ordination. 

Will the reader take up his IS^ew Testament and 
read the first chapter of Titus, from the fifth to the 
ninth verse inclusive ; then read the first three verses 
of the second chapter ; then in calm deliberation, ask 
himself the question : " Can it be possible that Paul 
meant the same by the word elders in the first chap- 
ter that he did by the words aged men in the second 
chapter?" It occurs to us that a negative answer to 
this question must come from every unbiased mind. 

Here we get the key to Paul's style in the use of 
these forms of expression. When he speaks of the 
seniors as such, he calls them aged men, aged wo- 
men ; but when he calls them elders, elders of the 
church, bishops or overseers, he means those whose 
duty it is to rule in the congregation and take the 



398 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

oversight of the flock. That such was his use of these 
terms seems clear enough. But we are still without 
light as to what Paul expected Titus to do in ordain- 
ing elders or hishops. We suppose Paul did not tell 
him how he was to ordain them simply because they 
had been together long enough for Paul to know that 
Titus understood the process — perhaps had seen per- 
sons ordained frequently ; but how are we to know 
what was done, that we may know what to do in the 
performance of this work ? We can only learn by the 
examination of recorded cases of ordination, that we 
may see what was done. If this examination sheds 
no light on the subject, then we will be likely to re- 
main in darkness, and may join our brethren in doing 
nothing in this direction. 

With the book of Grod in our hands, however, we 
open to Acts xiv : 23, and read : '' And when they 
had ordained them elders in every church, and prayed 
with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on 
whom they believed." Here we learn that they jprayed 
and fasted, but the connection in which the word or- 
dained, occurs here shows that something more than 
praying and fasting was done. True, indeed, these 
things were done ; and in similar work, therefore, we 
dare not omit them, even though we should not learn 
what else was done ; for we must certainly do what 
we have clearly learned to be our duty, ,though we 
should fail to learn our whole duty — it will be quite 
enough to omit what we do not learn ; hence we must 
practice what we do learn. But we must see what 
more was done if we would fill the measure of the exam- 
ple furnished us. 

The word cheirotoneo only occurs in two forms, and 
but a single occurrence of each in the Greek 'New 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 399 

Testament. Cheirotonetheis is found in 2 Cor. viii : 19, 
where it is rendered chosen. Young defines it here, 
" to extend the hand in voting." The other example is 
in the case under consideration, where cheirotonesantes 
is rendered ordained. Acts xiv : 23. Here Young de- 
fines it, " to elect bj stretching out the hand." These 
two examples exhaust the word in the original of the 
Bible, and we see it defined substantially the same way 
in both places. In the first example it is easy to see 
that the churches elected the party chosen by voting 
with the hand, and the conclusion reached is natural 
enough. But in the case before us the solution is not 
so apparent — indeed, it is confessedly difficult. That 
Paul and Barnabas held an election where they were 
the only voters, and voted for the parties elected by ex- 
tending their hands, is hardly probable. It would have 
heen more natural for them to consult together as to 
who should be selected, if they made the selection at 
all. If they could not agree upon it, neither could they 
decide it by a vote ; for, as there were but two voters, 
their difierence would have made a tie vote inevitable. 
The premises considered, therefore, we are slow to be- 
lieve that Paul and Barnabas ever conducted such a 
ludicrous larce. The supposition is further objectiona- 
hle from the fact that it would have taken from the 
churches the selection of their own rulers or servants 
— a manifest departure from the precedent established 
in the selection of the seven deacons at Jerusalem. We 
are. slow to believe that one method was adopted at one 
place, and a different method adopted at another place. 
Such want of system is not characteristic of God's 
order of doing things. But there was, unquestionably, 
something done with the hand, for the use ot the hand 
is inherent in the word employed; how can we find 



400 , GOSPEL SERMONS. 

what it was ? But a few days before, Paul and Barna- 
bas had been set apart to the work in which they were 
then engaged — is it not likely that they consecrated or 
set apart these elders to their work in the same way in 
which they had so recently been set apart to their own 
work ? Surely this is reasonable, and we will, there- 
fore, see what was done when they were separated to 
their work. 

" ISTow there were in the church that was at Antioch 
Certain prophets and teachers ; as Barnabas, and Simeon 
that is called l^iger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, 
w^hich had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, 
and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, 
the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul 
for the work whereunto I have called them. And when 
they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on 
them, they sent them away." Acts xiii : 1-3. 

^Now let us compare the two cases. In the consecra- 
tion of the elders, they fasted and prayed ; in the conse- 
cration of Barnabas and Saul they fasted and prayed. 
Thus far the cases are exactly similar. In the case of 
the elders something was done with the hand — what 
was it ? In the case of Barnabas and Saul hands were 
laid on them ; then, unless the Lord has two ways of 
doing the same thing, this is w^hat was done in the case 
of the elders. 

All parties agree that cheirotoneo means to extend the 
hand, and all know that the hand must be extended in 
laying it on ; hence, the demands of cheirotoneo are fully 
satisfied in laying on hands, but the demands of epitithe- 
mi are not satisfied with mere extension, or any thing 
less than contact, when used in its literal sense as it is 
here ; hence we regard it as a thing settled that the 
procedure in both cases included fasting, prayer, and 
laying on hands. 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 401 

It is admitted, in the examination of all other Biblical 
questions, that obscure and difficult passages of Script- 
ure must not be relied on to explain less obscure ones, 
but plain passages must be used to explain obscure and 
difficult ones. Applying this rule to the two cases of 
ordination before us, the word of God becomes its own 
interpreter, and all obscurity at once disappears. 

Thus we see, too, how the Holy Spirit makes over- 
seers. Indeed, the Holy Spirit makes Christians, dea- 
cons, elders or bishops, evangelists, and every thing 
else pertaining to the church of God, according to 
law; but the notion that the Holy Spirit makes men 
overseers in the church without compliance with law, 
is as mystical as abstract spiritual influences in making 
Christians without compliance with the law of pardon. 

" But Paul and Barnabas were ordained by the direct 
authority of the Holy Spirit ; we cannot have such in- 
struction now ; therefore, we are not to do that work." 
Certainly the persons who fasted, prayed, and laid 
their hands on them were directly instructed by the 
Holy Spirit ; so was Peter on the day of Pentecost, 
when he told believers to repent and be baptized for 
the remission of sins. Shall we not preach the same 
thing, because he did it under direct instructions from 
heaven ? The Holy Spirit directly instructed Philip 
to go to the chariot and preach Jesus to the Ethio- 
pian nobleman. Shall we quit that as well ? We have 
been accustomed to think the Holy Spirit a pretty 
safe teacher in every thing we are to do, and that we 
ought to follow its instructions where we have the 
ability to do so. 

" Well, but it looks too much like the Catholics to 
be fasting, praying, and laying on hands in ordina- 
tion." The Catholics sing and pray. Shall we not 
26 



402 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

sing and pray, lest we be found imitating them ? They 
do many things which we must do, not because they 
do them, but because Grod commanded us to do them. 
The demons confessed Jesus to be the Son of God. 
Shall we quit it lest we imitate them ? While we are 
running from Rome, let us be careful that we do not 
continue our retreat beyond Jerusalem. 

Really, we cannot very well imagine why these cases 
of ordination were recorded at all, if not for our imita- 
tion in the performance of similar work. We readily 
infer that the various examples of conversion were re- 
corded for this purpose ; and. if we are not to follow the 
examples of ordination left on record, then it seems that 
this is rather a worthless piece of history. 

Bat we are told that " hands were always laid on to 
communicate spiritual gifts ; " for what were they laid 
on Barnabas and Saul ? We are told that Ananias 
communicated this power to Saul when he laid hands 
on him. Then why were hands again laid on to give 
him that which he already had ? If the phrase " filled 
with the Holy Ghost," proves that Ananias thus en- 
dowed Paul, then Barnabas was so endowed before his 
ordination, "for he was a good man, and full of the 
Holy Ghost and of faith." Acts xi : 24. Then if this 
language proves supernatural endowment, they were 
both so endowed before hands were laid on them at 
Antioch. Then we repeat the question with emphasis, 
why ivere hands laid on them to give them that which they al- 
ready had f 

But did Ananias lay hands on Saul to impart spirit- 
ual gifts to him ? If so, who laid hands on the other 
apostles to so endow them ? They had this power hy 
virtue of their apostolic office-, for Jesus commanded them 
to " heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 403 

out devils; freely ye have received, freely give." Matt. 
X : 8. Paul says : " In nothing am I behind the very 
chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Truly the signs 
of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, 
in signs and wonders, and mighty deeds." 2 Cor. xii : 
11, 12. Here we learn that miracles were signs of apostle- 
ship. In what sense were they signs of an apostle? 
The}' could not prove that every one who possessed 
spiritual gifts was an apostle, for many possessed them 
who were not apostles, but had received them by impo- 
sition of apostolic hands. Then they were signs of an 
apostle, because ??o one could be an apostle without them — 
their absence would bar the claim of any one to that office, 
for miraculous power belonged to the apostolic office ; 
hence, the moment Paul became an apostle, that mo- 
ment he could work miracles, or do anything else be- 
longing to that office ; not because Ananias or any one 
else laid hands on him, but because the power belonged 
to the apostleship. The other apostles had it, not by 
imposition of hands, but by virtue ol their office, and 
he was not a whit behind the very chiefest of them ; and 
hence, he had it by virtue of his office. Hence, the idea 
that hands were laid on him to give him spiritual gifts 
is all a myth. When a sheriff, or any other officer, be- 
comes sheriff, governor, or president, he has all the au- 
thority and power which belong to his office ; so when 
Paul became an apostle, he had the power, and all the 
power, which belonged to other apostles, because he was 
an ajpostle; \\Q\\QQ, he calls these miracles the signs of an 
apostle. They belonged to the office. 

But if any one still insists that Ananias did confer 
spiritual gifts on Paul, then let him tell us who laid 
hands on the other apostles, and why Paul had hands 
laid on him at Antioch, if hands are always laid on for 



404 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

that purpose. But if any one takes the position (and 
some do) that he was not able to work miracles until 
hands were laid on him at Antioch, then it follows 
that he was an apostle more than four years without 
being able to give the signs of his office, and yet not 
a whit behind the very chiefest apostle in any thing. 
Certainly he was four or five years behind them in 
this work, according to this theory. But if laying 
on hands had been necessary to his endowment with 
spiritual gifts, we see not why he should have been 
all this time without it, for he had been twice up to 
Jerusalem before that time — had been fifteen days with 
Peter (Gal. i : 18), who was abundantly able to im- 
part that power by imposition of his hands, and had 
just returned from Jerusalem to Antioch when hands 
were laid on him there. Is it not strange, then, if he 
had to receive this measure of the spirit by imposi- 
tion of hands, that he did not get it from Peter who had 
the power to give or impart it to him, but waited to 
get it at Antioch from the hands of those who had no 
power to imjpart it f 

The power to impart this measure of the spirit be- 
longed to the apostles, and to them alone. It was a 
matter in which they could have no successors ; hence, 
when it was necessary that the Samaritans should re- 
ceive it, Peter and John had to go there for the pur- 
pose of imparting it to them. Philip was- there, and 
could work the miracles, but as no one but an apos- 
tle could confer the power, he could not do it. This 
power was not transferable at all; hence, when the 
apostles all died, this power had no repository on the 
earth. The names of the parties who laid hands on 
Barnabas and Saul are given, and while they were dis- 
tinguished men in the church at Antioch, they had 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 405 

no such power as this. They were told to separate 
Barnabas and Saul to the work for which the Spirit 
had called them ; and in obedience to this command 
they fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them. 
This is what they laid hands on them for — to separate 
or consecrate them to their God-appointed work. It 
seems to have been the purpose of the Lord from the 
time he appeared to Saul to make him a special apostle 
to the Gentiles, and though he began to preach as soon 
as he was made an apostle, he preached to the Jews in 
their synagogues (Acts ix : 20-22), and not until he was 
ordained at Antioch did he fully enter upon his mission 
to the Gentiles. 

But as a proof of the fact that hands were laid on 
Paul at Antioch to impart spiritual gifts to him, we are 
reminded that there is no account of his working any 
nciiracles before that time, and we very soon find him 
working them after that event. Here again, as in the 
case of the seven deacons at Jerusalem, the silence of 
the Scriptures is given as proof of the conclusion. 
Will any one, who so reasons, show us the record of the 
nairacles performed by the apostles James, Andrew, 
Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and 
Matthias after the day of Pentecost? In the very 
same chapter he will likely find a record of the many 
miracles performed by Paul before he was ordained at 
Antioch. True, it is said that many miracles were done 
\>j the apostles, but this is not sufficiently specific. 
These may have been done by Peter and John, for they 
were there ; and in the next chapter they are mentioned 
as the two who healed the lame man at the gate of the 
temple ; and when spiritual gifts were to be conferred 
on the Samaritans, the same tioo were sent there to im- 
part them. Then if we find no account of any miracles 



406 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

worked by the other ten^ shall we conclude that they 
had not the power to work them ? As well may we 
thus conclude as to assume that Paul was without 
power to work them for more than four years after he 
was an apostle, because there is no record of any mira- 
cle performed by him during that time. 

There is no record of any miracle that was ever per- 
formed by Timothy; yet Paul told him to stir up the gift 
that was in him by the imposition of his hands. 2 Tim. 
i : 6. Did Timothy ever work a miracle ? We do not 
know that he did ; but Paul laid his hands on him, and 
he no(t only had the power to impart spiritual gifts, but 
he frequently did it. Then why should he not give 
them to his son Timothy, who was his fellow-laborer in 
the gospel ? The silence of the record will not quite 
prove that he did not work any miracles, neither will 
it prove that Paul worked none before hands were laid 
on him at Antioch. 

There was a limit to the power of Paul, and we sup- 
pose of every one else, in working miracles. He could 
only work them when the glory of God would be pro- 
moted by doing so ; for he left Trophimus at Miletum 
sick (2 Tim. iv : 20), and his concern for him shows 
that he would have cured him if he could. He did 
heal many there — why not him? Simply because he 
did not possess unlimited power to heal. This may 
account, in part, for the silence of the record, even 
when supernatural power could have been exhibited 
had it been in harmony with God's will that the par- 
ties should exercise it. 

But whether Timothy could or could not work mira- 
cles, we think it clear that hands were laid on him when 
the impartation of spiritual gifts was not the object for 
which it was done. Paul said to him : " Till I come, 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 407 

give attendance to reading to exhortation, to doctrine. 
!N"eglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given 
thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of 
the presbytery. Meditate upon these things ; give thy- 
self wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to 
all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine ; 
for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them 
that hear thee." 1 Tim. iv : 13-16. That the word 
presbytery here means eldership can scarcely admit of 
doubt; and as spiritual gifts were imparted only by 
apostolic hands, the eldership did not lay hands on him 
for this purpose ; hence, the conclusion seems to us ir- 
resistible that this refers to the laying on of hands in 
his ordination to the work of the ministry, as we have 
seen that Paul and Barnabas were separated to their 
work. We can scarcely conclude that divine wisdom 
separated Paul and Barnabas in one Avay and Timothy 
in a different way. Whether Paul laid his hands on 
Timothy in connection with the eldership in the ordina- 
tion, or at another time, to impart to him spiritual gifts, 
is not certain ; but that Paul communicated some 
power or privilege to him not given by the eldership, is 
made probable by the fact that he mentions a gift im- 
parted by his hands, without intimation that the elder- 
ship had anything to do with it ; and also mentions a 
gift imparted by the hands of the eldership without in- 
timating that he took part in it himself. We conclude, 
therefore, that whether the hands of both were laid on 
at the same time, or at different times, something more 
was given by the hands of Paul than by the hands of 
the eldership. This, however, is merely a probability ; 
for it is by no means certain that Timothy ever pos- 
sessed spiritual gifts ; and it is certain that he was not 
inspired, but had to learn what he knew by diligent 
study. 



408 GOSPEL SEKMONS. 

That the laying on of hands by the presbytery had 
reference to his position as a preacher seems clear from 
the context. He is told to give attention to reading, 
exhortation, and doctrine; for by doing so he would 
both save himself and those that heard him. And this 
style is begun before the mention of the laying on of 
hands, and continued after it; thus showing that his work 
as a preacher was the subject under consideration. 

One other thought and we shall have done for the 
present. We are often met with the objection that 
none but apostles ever laid hands on in ordination. 
We have seen that there was no apostle present to lay 
hands on Paul and Barnabas at Antioch — we have now 
seen that the presbytery or eldership laid hands on 
Timothy — we have seen that Titus was left in Crete to 
ordain elders or bishops there ; and we have seen that 
this was done at other places by fasting, prayer, and 
laying on hands — we now propose to show that Timothy 
was expected to do the same thing. 

Paul says : '^ Let the elders that rule well be counted 
worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in 
word and doctrine ; for the Scripture saith, Thou shalt 
not muzzle the ox that tread eth out the corn ; and the 
laborer is worthy of his reward. Against an elder re- 
ceive not an accusation, but before two or three wit- 
nesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that oth- 
ers also may fear. I charge thee before God, 
and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that 
thou observe these things without preferring one before 
another, doing nothing by partiality. Lay hands sud- 
denly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's 
sins : keep thyself pure. Drink no longer water, but 
use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often 
infirmities." 1 Tim. v: 17-23. 



CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 409 

After speaking of the honor due to elders that rule 
well — their right to support — the manner of receiving 
accusations against them, and the treatment of those 
who sin — a most solemn charge against partiality and^ 
preferment of one above another, Paul told Timothy 
to lay hands suddenly on no man. IN'ow, how can we 
conclude that this means lay on hands not at all ? Or, 
how can we conclude that it referred to laying on hands 
in imparting spiritual gifts when Timothy had no such 
power ? The manifest import of the passage is that he 
should not be hasty or inconsiderate in ordaining per- 
sons to the eldership or bishop's office, lest he should 
put an unworthy man into that important position, and 
thereby become partaker of his sins — in such matters 
"keep thyself pure." Let him be tried that he may 
prove himself worthy and competent for the work be- 
fore you lay hands on him. 8urely nothing could be 
made more plain. 

But we are told that this was a caution against fight- 
ing — " be no striker." Timothy was a weakly, infirm 
man, in consequence of which he was admonished to 
abstain from water, and to use wine. He was prover- 
bial for his piety and knowledge of the Scriptures, and 
for his zeal in the cause of the Master ; and yet we are 
asked to believe that Paul felt it necessary to caution 
him against becoming a bully ! " Lay hands suddenly 
on no man " clearly implies that he loas to do it deliber- 
ately. Did Paul intend to tell Timothy to deliberately 
hit a man ? " Be not hasty when you go to hit a man, 
but be deliberate that you may give him a jolt that will 
finish him ! " Really we know not how to reply to such 
a thought with becoming gravity. 

As to who shall lay on hands in ordination, and the 
absurdity of always requiring ordained persons to lay 



410 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

on hands, we refer the reader to the excellent re- 
marks of Brother Campbell in the opening of this in- 
vestigation. We need not further discuss them here. 

In conclusion, we wish to say that we have no un- 
kind feeling toward those from whom we differ on this 
subject. As pure and good men as are known to us 
take a different view of it. We have not written to 
provoke a controversy with them, nor do we intend to 
have any. Those who know us best know that we have 
a natural and cultivated aversion to controversy with 
brethren; hence, we have studiously avoided quoting 
the publications of any one from whom we have felt it 
our duty to differ. We have waited until what has 
been written could have time to pass from before the 
public, lest we might seem to be writing in opposition 
to it. What we have w^ritten, however, we most con- 
scientiously believe the word of God to teach ; by it we 
have to be judged, and by it we are willing that what 
we have written may be judged. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION.* 

Proposition: — The Scriptures teach that salvation from 
sin is conditional. The condition, or conditions to be 
performed by the sinner in order to salvation or freedom 
from sin. ' ' 

Mr. President : 

I AM happy in the privilege of meeting my distin- 
guished opponent under circumstances favorable 
for the examination of the word of God pertaining to the 
proposition just read in your hearing. It is exceedingly 
plain, and but few of its terms need to be defined. 

Sin is the transgression of the law — God's law. 1 
John iii : 4. 

Salvation or freedom from sin is a release from the 
punishment due the sinner for such transgression. 

The same thought is substantially expressed in sev- 
eral other forms, as " Remission of sin," " Forgiveness 
of sin," " Blotting out of sin," " Ceasing to remember 
sin," "Justification," etc., etc., the difference being 
merely technical. About these I suppose we will have 
no controversy, as it is the great subject of pardon that 
concerns us, not the phraseology in which it is expressed. 
One more term, perhaps I ought to define. 

" A condition is that which must exist as the occasion 
or concomitant of something else ; that which is requi- 



"■•'Opening speech of T. W. Brents in debate with Elder E. D. 
Herod, Franklin, Ky., March 29, 1887. 

(411) 



412 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

site in order that something else should take effect ; 
stipulation; terms specified." — Webster. 

That God alone has power to forgive sins is well un- 
derstood and admitted by all ; but the issue with us, is, 
does he pardon the sins of men on conditions to be com- 
plied with by them ? 

Than this, no more important subject can be consid- 
ered by the human race, provided I am correct. If, 
however, my proposition is not true, it may be that the 
importance of the subject is not very great. If God un- 
conditionally saves men without a single thought, word, 
or deed on the part of the sinner, then he may fold his 
arms and go to sleep, for nothing that he can do will 
secure his salvation, or in any way affect his future des- 
tiny. If he must even desire his salvation, in order that 
God may save him, then that desire is a condition, and 
my proposition is true. If he must believe any thing, or 
in any person or thing, in order that God may save him, 
then that belief is a condition, and my proposition is true. 
If he must perform any physcal act, as an act of obedi- 
dience to God, in order that he may be saved, then that 
act is a condition, and my proposition is still true. 

My proposition does not require me to show what the 
conditions are — it is simply my duty to show that there 
are conditions with which the sinner must comply or 
be lost. I may incidentally do more than this. 



At the suggestion of my worthy opponent. King 
James' version, as it is called, is made the standard of 
authority in this discussion. I would have preferred 
this otherwise. While I believe it, on the whole, about 
as good as any other version, yet I know there are man- 
ifest errors in it ; and in discussions like this it should 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 413 

be the great aim of all the parties to get at the truth ; 
and where there are errors in the translation, known to 
be such, we ought to be at liberty to correct them by 
any light we can get, either from critics or commenta- 
tors who have given us the benefit of their labors, or by 
an appeal to the original for ourselves. But with all its 
defects in translation, we believe it sufficiently clear to 
enable us to understand the will of the Lord and be 
saved. We have agreed to be governed by it in this 
discussion, and to it we go for proof of our proposition. 

ARGUMENT. 

Much may be learned as to what God is doing, and 
proposes to do, by an examination of what he has done 
in ages past ; and I insist that the same general princi- 
ple embodied in my proposition has characterized God's 
dealings with man from the time of his creation until 
now ; he has blessed and prospered him while he be- 
lieved and obeyed him ; and he has cursed and punished 
him when he forsook him, rebelled against him, refused 
to obey him, and violated his law. This has always 
been, is now, and ever will be true as long as man 
dwells in a tenement of clay. We find an illustration 
of this principle in the first law given to 

ADAM IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

When God placed him in the garden, he commanded 
him, saying : " Of every tree of the garden thou mayest 
freely eat ; but of the tree of the knowldge of good and 
evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou 
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. ii : 16, 17. 
Here is a clearly implied condition — if you eat of it, you 
shall die — if you do not eat of it, you may not die, but 
live. 



414 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Another illustration we find recorded in the case of 

CAIN AND ABEL. 

When they made their oflerings God respected the 
offering of Abel, but did not respect the offering of 
Cain ; and Cain was angry about it, and the Lord 
said : " Why art thou wroth ? and why is thy coun- 
tenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not 
be accepted ? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth 
at the door." Gen. iv : 6, 7. Here is the spirit of 
my proposition^— if you do well you shall be accepted, 
but if you do not well, sin is at the very threshold 
of disobedience. 

Another example we have recorded in the histoy of 

NOAH AND THE FLOOD. 

Coming down the stream of time twenty-five hun- 
dread years, " God saw that the wickedness of man 
was great in the earth, and that every imagination 
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continu- 
ally, and it repented the Lord that he had made 
man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have 
created from the face of the earth ; both man and 
beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the 
air ; for it repenteth me that I have made them." 
Gen. vi : 5-7. God carried out this determi'nation, and 
did destroy the wicked by a deluge of water. And 
why did he destroy them ? Was it because God had 
unconditionally reprobated them, and decreed the wick- 
edness for which he destroyed them ? We suppose not, 
for their sins grieved him at his heart. Then again, we 
ask why this destruction came upon them ? Surely it 
was because they were wicked, even to every imagina- 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 415 

tion of their thoughts. But Noah found grace in the 
eyes of the Lord. Yerse 8. And why did he find 
grace in the eyes of the Lord ? " For thee have I seen 
righteous before me in this generation." Thus we find 
the spirit of my proposition. God blessed and saved 
Koah and his family because he was righteous in his 
generation, and he destroyed the residue of the human 
race for their great wickedness. And be it remembered 
that these examples are referred to in the New Testa- 
ment as instructive to us. 

When God gave the law, in detail, to the Jews, 
through Moses, at Horeb, he most graphically set forth 
the importance of obedience, and the consequences of 
disobedience, that the people might well understand the 
principles upon which he proposed to govern them, in 

giving ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ HOREB, 

He says : " And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt 
hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, 
to observe and to do all his commandments which I 
command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set 
thee on high above all nations of the earth ; and all 
these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, 
if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy 
God." Deut. xxviii : 1, 2. Then follow in detail, the 
rich blessings he promised them ; and to impress them 
with the necessity of obeying the Lord he adds : " And 
the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail ; 
and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be be- 
neath ; if that thou hearken unto the commandments 
of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, 
to observe and to do them ; and thou shalt not go aside 
from any of the words which I command thee this day, 
to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods 
to serve them." Verses 13, 14. 



416 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

Then he gives the other side of the picture in the 
fearful fruits of disobedience. Verse fifteen he says : 
" But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken 
unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do 
all his commandments and his statutes which I com- 
mand thee this day ; that all these curses shall come 
upon thee, and overtake thee.'' Then follows a list of 
the curses that shall come upon them, until the heart 
sickens in contemplating the wretchedness to which re- 
bellion and sin should reduce them ; and then, as if to 
more forcibly impress them, he adds : " Moreover, all 
these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, 
and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed ; because thou 
hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to 
keep his commandments and his statutes which he com- 
manded thee." V 45. 

Thus we see the principle of my proposition clearly 
set out in the covenant which God made with Israel at 
Horeb ; and it characterizes God's dealings with man 
everywhere. He blesses, prospers, and saves him when 
he believes and obeys him; and fails not to punish him 
when he rebels, and sins against him. The conditions 
have been changed in different dispensations ; but con- 
ditions there always have been, and always will be until 
the God of the Bible ceases to rule. 

The same principle was re-affirmed in the covenant 
in the land of Moab ; and it was again proclaimed to 
Solomon at the 

DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 

God said to him : '' If my people, which are called 
by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and 
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways ; then 
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 417 

and heal their land. >!< ^ ^ And as for thee, if 
thou wilt Avalk before me, as David thy father walked, 
and do according to all that I have commanded thee, 
and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; then 
will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according 
as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, 
there shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. 
But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my 
commandments, which I have set before you, and shall 
go and serve other gods, and worship them ; then will 
I pluck them up by the roots, out of my land which I 
have given them ; and this house, which I have sancti- 
fied for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will 
make it to be a proverb and a by-word among all na- 
tions. And this house, which is high, shall be an as- 
tonishment to every one that passeth by it ; so that he 
shall say, why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, 
and unto this house ? And it shall be answered, because 
they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which 
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid 
hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served 
them ; therefore hath he brought all this evil upon 
them." 2 Chron. vii : 14-22. Therefore — yes, because 
they forsook the Lord. 

Coming down to within six hundred years of the ad- 
vent of Christ, we find God, by the mouth of Ezekiel, 
affirming the same great principles. Ezekiel xviii : 
20-28. 

" The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall 
not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the 
father bear the iniquity of the son ; the righteousness 
of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness 
of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked 
will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and 
27 



418 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and 
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his 
transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not 
be mentioned unto him ; in his righteousness that he 
hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that 
the wicked should die ? saith the Lord God ; and not 
that he should return from his ways and live ? ^ >i^ ^ 
When a righteous man turneth away from his right- 
eousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; 
for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again 
when the wicked man turneth away from his wicked- 
ness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is 
lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive ; because 
he considereth, and turneth away from all his trans- 
gressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, 
lie shall not die." 

Comment on such Scriptures as these is surely un- 
necessary. They cannot be made more plain than God 
lias already made them. If you will not deem it irrev- 
erent^ I will say that were God here himself this day, 
seeking to defend my proposition, we cannot see how 
language could be better selected for the purpose than 
is here recorded. Please note the fact that temporal 
blessings are not all that are here promised ; for he who 
obeys the commandments of the Lord shall save his 
soul. Is not this conditional salvation? Note the ad- 
ditional fact, too, that God has no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked, but most earnestly entreats him to cast 
away his transgressions, make himself a new heart, and 
a new spirit — turn and live. Verses 31, 32. 

God compels no man to obey him, but he sets before 
him motives vast in importance as is the destiny of the 
human soul to induce him to obedience, and faithfully 

/ 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 419 

warns him of the dreadful consequences of disobedi- 
ence, and allows him to choose for himself. 

'• Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a 
curse ; a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the 
Lord, your God, which I command you this day ; and 
a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the 
Lord, your God ; but turn aside out of the way which I 
command you this day, to go after other gods which 
ye have not known." Dent, xi : 26-28. Does this not 
look about as conditional as my proposition ? A bless- 
ing if ye obey, a curse if ye disobey. 

But again : '' See, I have set before you this day life 
and good, and death and evil ; in that I command thee 
this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, 
and to keep his commandments and his statutes and 
his judgments, that thou may est live and multiply; 
and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land 
whither thou goest to possess it. But if thy heart turn 
away, and worship other gods, and serve them ; I de- 
nounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, 
and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, 
whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. 
I call heaven and earth to record this day againt you, 
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and 
cursing; therefore, choose life that both thou and thy 
seed may live." Deut. xxx : 15-19. Does this look like 
man has nothing to do ? The two roads are open be- 
fore him — life is at the end of one, and death is at the 
end of the other. Man is perfectly free to choose the 
road he will travel. God says to the sinner in the 
road to death, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die? 
I have no pleasure in your death, but rather that you 
turn and live." 

We come now to the examination of the New Testa- 



420 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

ment, and thougli the conditions have been changed, 
we shall find conditional salvation meeting ns at every 
step of our investigation. 

We will have to abridge and condense every proof 
we introduce as much as we can, and then we will not 
be able to present a tithe of the proof available in sup- 
port of a proposition so universally taught as is the one 
under consideration at present. 

We begin our investigation with a very brief exami- 
nation of 

THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

He was to go before the Lord in the spirit and power 
of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the chil- 
dren, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; 
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 
i : 17. As it was John's God-appointed work to make 
ready a people prepared for the Lord, did he perform 
the work assigned him ? If so, how did he prepare 
them? He gave them knowledge of salvation. "By 
the remission of their sins." Luke i : 77. But how did 
they get knowledge of salvation? We suppose they 
got it by compliance with the conditions upon which 
God authorized John to ofier it to them. 

What were the conditions of salvation preached by 
John ? " There was a man sent from God whose name 
was John. The same came for a witness to' bear wit- 
ness of the light, that all men through him might be- 
lieve." John i : 6, 7. I^otice in passing that the ob- 
ject of John's testimony was that all men, yes, all men 
might believe. Then it was necessary that men believe 
in the days of John. But what were they to believe ? 
John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, 
saying unto the people that they should believe on him 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 421 

which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 
Acts xix : 4. Thus we see they believed on a Christ to 
come — we believe in a Christ already come ; this is the 
difierence^ no more. Christ was the object of their faith, 
and he is the object of our faith to-day. But what 
else was necessary ? 

" In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in 
the wilderness of Judea, saying, repent ye, for the king- 
dom of heaven is at hand." Matt, iii : 1 Then repent- 
ance was necessary in the days of John. What else ? 

" And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, 
and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in 
the river of Jordan, confessing their sins." Mark i : 5. ' 
But for lohat did John baptize the people ? He 
" preached the baptism of repentance for the remission 
of sins." Mark i : 4 ; Luke iii : 3. What did he preach 
for the remission of sins ? Certainly that baptism that 
belonged to or followed repentance. However import- 
ant faith may be, there is nothing affirmed of it here ; 
nor is there any thing affirmed of repentance, only that 
it was connected w^ith the baptism preached by Jolm 
for the remission of sins. Suppose I say, " the coat of 
my friend kept me warm ; " what do I say kept me 
warm ? Certainly the coat that belonged to my friend 
kept me warm. Again : " The house of my friend gave 
me shelter for the night ; " what do I say gave me shel- 
ter? Certainly the house that belonged to my friend 
gave me shelter. Very well, " The baptism of repent- 
ance for the remission of sins ; " what is for the remis- 
sion of sins? Certainly the baptism that belonged to or 
followed repentance was for the remission of sins. If 
this is not plain and conclusive, then human language, 
common sense, and Holy Writ can make nothing so. 

Then we have found believing, or faith, repentancey 



422 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

and baptism preached by John, and when the people 
submitted to or performed these conditions, they had 
knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins. 
Then our proposition is clearly sustained in John's min- 
istry. They were pardoned and had knowledge of it, and 
were fit material for position in the great spiritual temple 
to be erected in the near future by divine authority. 

We come now to examine the personal teachings of 
Jesus, and we will begin with an examination of his 
ever memorable conversation with I^icodemus, recorded 
in the third chapter of the gospel by John. 

" Jesus answered and said unto him, Yerily, verily, I 
say unto thee, Except a man be born again he cannot 
see the kingdom of God. ^icodemus saitli unto him, 
How can a man be born when he is old ? Can he enter 
the second time into his mother's womb and be born? 
Jesus answered, Yerily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a 
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter 
into the kingdom of God." Verses 3-5. 

That the word see is here used in the sense of enjoy', 
we suppose no one will doubt. The thought is, that 
without being born again no man can enjoy the king- 
dom of God. How is he to be born again ? " Except 
a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot en- 
ter into the kingdom of God." The converse of the 
statement is clearly implied, that if he be born of water 
and of the Spirit he does enter the kingdom of God. 
In this kingdom is a state of salvation, out of it is a 
state of condemnation. Paul says : '' Giving thanks 
unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be par- 
takers of the inheritance of the saints in light ; who 
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath 
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son ; in 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 423 

whom we have redemption through his blood, even the 
forgiveness of sins." Col. i : 12-14. 

Then outside of the kingdom we are subject to the 
power of darkness, and under the dominion of Satan ; 
in the kingdom we are delivered from the power of 
darkness, and have redemption and forgiveness of sins 
through the blood of Jesus. 

Now, we have a few very plain questions for our 
worthy opponent, to which we invite his special atten- 
tion ; and we promise to pay our respects to his an- 
swers w^hen he makes them. 

(1) Can the class of persons for whom the kingdom 
was established be saved without entering into it ? If 
so, how ? 

(2) Does the phrase, horn of ivater, m John iii : 5, re- 
fer to water baptism ? If not, to what does it refer ? 

(3) Can a man enter into the kingdom without being 
baptized ? If so, how ? 

Nicodemus did not understand the Savior, and hence 
did not believe what he said. Then said Jesus, " If I 
have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how 
shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ? " Verse 
11. He then seeks to impress him wnth the importance 
of believing on him. l!^ot that he intended him to 
stop at believing on him, but by believing he might 
be prepared to attend to what he had previously taught 
him. And he begins with an illustration drawn from 
Jewish history, with which Nicodemus, as a master in 
Israel, was presumed te be familiar. He says : " And 
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even 
so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever 
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal 
life." Verses 14, 15. As the dying Israelite had to 
look upon the brazen serpent on the pole in the camp 



424 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

that he might live (Num. xxi : 8, 9), so Jesus must die 
upon the cross, that whosoever believetli on him should 
not perish, but have eternal life, i^ow, what is the ob- 
ject of and necessity for believing? That the believer 
may not perish, but may have eternal life. What can 
this mean? Is believing not a condition upon which 
depends eternal life ? Will my worthy opponent say 
no ? Will he say that looking upon the brazen serpent 
was not a condition on which depended the life of the 
bitten Israelite ? Was looking upon the brazen serpent 
any more a condition of life to the bitten Israelite than 
believing on Christ is to the sinner to-day ? We will 
listen attentively to his explanation of this. 

" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." Yerse 16. Whom 
did God love ? He loved the world. And how much 
did he love it ? He so loved the world that he gave his 
only begotten Son. For what did he give his Son ? 
That whosoever, of the world he loved, might have 
everlasting life, on condition that they would believe on 
him. Is not believing on him, here made a condition 
on which depends the eternal life of the sinner ? Will 
our opponent say no? Surely we are here taught that 
the world may be saved, if they will accept salvation on 
the conditions upon which it is offered to them. " For 
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the 
world, but that the world through him might be saved." 
Verse 17. Here the mission of Jesus is most beautifully 
expressed — might he saved, not shall be saved whether 
they want to be saved or not. He came to provide a 
way by which men may be saved if they will believe 
and obey him — not to force salvation upon them. And 
the means of salvation are as free to cdl men as tliey are 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 425 

to any man. He came to save the world, and tasted 
death for every man. 

Though Jesus came not to condemn the world, yet 
all will be condemned who refuse to believe on him. 
^' He that believeth not is condemned already." And 
why is he condemned already ? " Because he hath not 
believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God." 
Yerse 18. 

Here we find belief in Jesus to be the condition upon 
which men may escape condemnation, and unbelief the 
condition upon which men bring condemnation on 
themselves. Of course, we understand the Lord to be 
speaking of such belief as takes God at his Avord, and 
goes right along in obedience to his commands, A be- 
lief perfected as the word of God directs. 

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." 
Yes, the obedient believer has everlasting life in prom- 
ise, but w^hat about the unbeliever ? " He that believ- 
eth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God 
abideth on him." John iii : 36. 

And again: "^ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall 
die in your sins, for if ye believe not that I am he, ye 
shall die in your sins." John viii : 24. 

And still again : " H any man hear my words and be- 
lieve not, I judge him not ; for I came not to judge the 
world, but to save the Avorld. He that rejecteth me, 
and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth 
him ; the word that I have spoken the same shall judge 
him in the last day." John xii : 47, 48. Here we learn 
that Jesus came to save the world ; and we learn that the 
world he came to save is co-extensive with the judg- 
ment of the last day. Will all be judged ? Then Jesus 
came to save all men. But he who rejects and receires 
not his words cannot be saved by him, however ample 



426 GOSPEL SERMONS. , 

the means of salvation provided for him. The words 
7'eject and receive both imply the exercise of will in reject- 
ing Christ aud in refusing to receive his words. 

" Man}^ other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of 
his disciples, which are not written in this hook, but 
these are written that ye might believe." Yes, these 
signs are written that ye might believe, not that you shall 
believe whether you are interested yourself or not. 
But that ye might believe, what ? " That Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of God." These are written as evidence 
to convince the world of the truth of this grand propo- 
sition, that all men might believe it. But what if they 
do believe this ? " And that, believing, ye might have 
life through his name." John xx : 30,31. Yes, wight 
believe, and juight have life by believing. This expresses 
the thought most beautifully. IsTow, I want to ask my 
worthy opponent this question. After all these signs 
are recorded, if a man refuses to believe the proposition 
set out here, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is 
there a possibility for him to get eternal life throngh 
his name ? If so, how ? And if not, why not ? I will 
not anticipate his answers, but will Avait until he makes 
them. Then I will attend to them. 

• Peter says : " To him give all the prophets witness, 
that through his name whosoever belie veth in him 
shall receive remission of sins." Acts x : 43. Here we 
have the same style, except the phrase, remission of sins, 
is substituted for the word life, by which, doubtless, the 
same thought is intended ; and it seems to me that in 
the plainest terms possible remission of sins in the name 
of Jesus Christ is made to depend upon belief in him, 
as a condition to be complied with by those whose sins 
are remitted at all. Will he who does not believe on 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 427 

him get remission through his name? If so, how? 
They are condemn ed ah^eady. 

" Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, 
that through this man is preached unto you the forgive- 
ness of sins ; and by him all that believe are justified 
from all things from which ye could not be justified by 
the law of Moses." Acts xiii : 38, 39. Here we have 
forgiveness of sins in place of the phrase, remission of sins, 
which means the same thing ; and all that believe are 
justified, thus plainly making belief a condition of jus- 
tification. 

Paul says : " I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to 
every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the 
Greek." Rom. i : 16. But the gospel is God's power 
to the salvation of no one, whether he be Jew or Greek, 
who does not believe it. Truly, then, salvation is con- 
ditional, as the power of God to salvation is rejected by 
the unbeliever. 

'' The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in 
thy heart; that is the word of faith which we preach ; 
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord 
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath 
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved ; for with 
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with 
the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Rom. 
x: 8-10. 

Here we have confession with the mouth, and belief 
in the heart, in the plainest terms possible, made condi- 
tions of salvation. If this language does not show these 
to be conditions, then I respectfully submit that human 
language can show nothing to be a condition of any 
thing. To this passage I solicit the special attention of 
my worthy respondent. Will he say that belief and con- 



428 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

fession are not here shown to be conditions of salvation ? 
If he will say they are not, will he be so good as to con- 
struct a sentence that will express the thought without 
using the very word condition ? 

On one occasion a young man came to Jesus and 
said : " Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I 
may have eternal life ? " Matt, xix : 16. Had my 
proposition been untrue at that time, it occurs to me 
that Jesus would have answered something after the 
following style : " There is nothing that you may do 
that you may have eternal life ; for eternal life is not 
dependent on conditions to be complied with by man." 
I*^ot thus understanding the subject, however, the Mas- 
ter told him what to do that he might have treasures 
in heaven. 

On the day of Pentecost, T\^hen Peter convinced 
the people that God had made that same Jesus 
whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ, "They 
were cut to the heart and said unto Peter, and the rest 
of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?" 
Do for what ? To obtain pardon or remission of sins, 
as the answer plainly shows : " Peter said unto them, 
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Acts ii r 38. 

Here, remission of sins, in the case of these believers, 
is made to depend on the additional items of re- 
'peiitance and baptism. The preposition for unites repent 
and be baptized on one side, with remission of sins on 
the other. Pemission of sins is the object for which 
and to which the actions expressed in both verbs point as 
the end in view. Connected, as they are, by the con- 
junction omd, they cannot be separated. Whatever one 
is for the other is for. The relation of one to the re- 
mission of sins is the relation of both. Then, if we can 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 429 

find the relation of one, we will have found the relation 
of both. Peter says: " Repent and be converted that 
jour sins may be blotted out." Acts iii : 19. Then, as 
repentance is required that sins may be blotted out, and 
as baptism sustains the same relation to remission, ex- 
pressed by the one preposition, occurring but one time, 
it follows that baptism is to be performed in order that 
sins may be blotted out. From this conclusion there is 
no appeal. Then, as the Pentecostians believed before 
they asked what to do, it follows that faith^ repentance^ 
and baptism were conditions of pardon then and are so 
to-day. . 

That repentance is a condition is already plain 
enough, but to make assurance doubly sure, we Avill 
present further proof. Jesus said ; " Except ye repent, 
ye shall all likewise perish." Luke xiii : 2. And Paul 
said : "• The times of this ignorance God winked at, but 
now commandeth he all men every where to repent ; 
because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will 
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he 
hath ordained." Acts xvii: 30,31. Then without re- 
pentance sinners will not be ready for the judgment, 
but will surely perish. 

When the rest of the apostles heard Peter's defense 
for going in among the uncircumcised, " they held their 
peace and glorified God, saying, then hath God also to 
the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." Acts xi : 
18. Then repentance is unto life, looking to life, in 
order to life, a condition on which life depends. But 
the people at Pentecost inquired what they must do. 
Peter told them what to do for remission ot sins. IN'ow 
we respectfully ask our esteemed opponent if he would 
answer the same inquiry now as Peter did then ? If not, 
why not ? 



430 GOSPEL SERMOXS. 

The Pliilippiaii jailer said to Paul and Silas : " Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved ? " Acts xvi : 30. ]S"ow iu 
this question we have the very issue presented in my 
proposition. What must I do to he saved f Will my 
worthy opponent sa^' whether this question does not 
cover the ground in controversy here ? How would he 
answer such a question if put to him to-day ? Some- 
thing after the following style, I imagine : " What 
must you do ? Do nothing. What can you do to he 
saved? Just nothing at all ; for your salvation is not 
dependent on conditions to be performed by you ; sal- 
vation is not of works lest any man should boast." But 
did the inspired teachers so treat the question? ]N"o, 
indeed ; but they answered it. ^' Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house. 
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to 
all that were in his house." Thus all the conditions of 
salvation were presented and attended to the same hour 
of the night. 

When the Lord appeared to Saul and convinced him 
that he was Jesus, Saul said : '^ What shall I do, Lord ? 
And the Lord said: >i^ >i« >!^ arise and go into Da- 
mascus a^nd there it shall be told thee of all things which 
are appointed for thee to do." Acts xxii . 10. And a 
man was sent to him who told him to arise and be bap- 
tized and wash away his sins, calling on the name of the 
Lord. Verse 16. 

IN'ow, here are four examples recorded, where those 
competent to answer were asked what the inquirers 
m.ust do, and in no case were they told that they could 
do nothing. But in every instance they were told what 
to do in order to be saved, i^ow, will our esteemed op- 
ponent tell ns how any man, believing in unconditional 
salvation, as he does, can ask such a question as what 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. , 431 

must I do to be saved ? or in faith do any thing to be 
saved ? or tell any one else what to do to be saved ? We 
suppose he Avill give us an explanation of these matters, 
and we will await his answer. We respectfully ask that 
it be full and explicit. 

In the commission given by Christ to his apostles af- 
ter he arose from the dead, and before he ascended to 
heaven, he said : '' Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall 
be damned." Mark xvi : 15, 16. 

Here we learn that the salvation promised in the gos- 
pel was intended for every creature in all the world who 
would accept it on the conditions stipulated. In the 
plainest terms possible, we are told that of every creat- 
ure in all the world, he that would believe the gospel 
and be baptized should be saved. If this language does 
not establish my proposition, then no proposition can 
be established by any language that may be employed. 
It is not necessary that I stop to show that belief and 
baptism sustain the same relation to the salvation prom- 
ised, for if either one is a condition necessary to the en- 
joyment of salvation, then salvation is conditional, and 
my proposition is established. But, suppose I say to a 
man, " dig me a cistern and wall it ujd with brick, and 
I will give you a hundred dollars." The specifications 
are all made, the proposition accepted, and reduced to 
writing. The man makes the excavation according to 
the specifications, and demands the money for the job ; 
can he get it ? Has he complied with the contract ? 
He was to dig the cistern and wall it up with brick — he 
has dug the cistern, but has not put a brick in it ; is he 
entitled to the pay? Assuredly he is not. Yery well, he 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. The 



432 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

man believes — has not been baptized ; is he saved ? Is 
he not in the same condition of the man who had not 
pnt a brick in the cistern, when by contract he was to 
wall it up ? 

Bnt what of those who do not believe ? He that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned. But why did the Lord 
not add, '' and is not baptized shall be damned." Be- 
cause if he did not believe he toould not be baptized, nor 
would it do him any good if he were to be ; " for with- 
out faith it is impossible to please God." Baptism 
without faith would be about like walling up the cis- 
tern without digging it. You say that would be im- 
possible ; so it is impossible for one who does not believe 
to be scripturally baptized. The style is, " He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized." " If thou believest with all 
thine heart, thou may est.' 

One of those to whom this commission was given, 
said to the disciples scattered abroad : " Which some- 
time w^ere disobedient, when olice the longsufFering 
of God waited in the days of ^oah, while the ark was 
a j)reparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved 
by water ; the like figure whereunto even baptism doth 
also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of 
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience 
toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 1 
Peter iii : 20, 21. 

Here we are told that baptism saves us, and not only 
so, but it noiv saves us. In what sense does baptism 
save us ? Surely it is not the lyower that saves us, but 
it is a condition, upon compliance with which God saves 
us. We have seen that in the commission un<ier which 
Peter acted, he was charged to preach the gospel, and 
Jesus promised that he that would believe and be bap- 
tized, should be saved ; and Peter could have meant 
nothing else than that baptism saves us as a condition 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 433 

in liarmony with the commission given to him by the 
Master. And it must save us from the punishment that 
is due us on account of our sins, as there is nothing else 
from which it can or does save us. It cannot refer to 
a future salvation, for it now saves us. It does not save 
us from temporal calamity — as insult, persecution, sick- 
ness, death, for the baptized man is still subject to 
these. Then, if it does not save us from our past sins, 
will our opponent tell us from what it does save us ? 

Isaiah, through the light of prophetic vision, says : 
" In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall 
stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gen- 
tiles seek." Is. xi : 10. 

Again : " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, 
call ye upon him while he is near ; let the wicked for- 
sake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; 
and let him return unto the Lord and he Avill have 
mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will abund- 
antly pardon.' Is. Iv : 6, 7. 

Jesus says: "Ask and it shall be given you; seek 
and ye shall find ; knock and it shall be opened unto 
you ; for every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that 
seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be 
opened." Matt, vii : 7, 8. 

Here we learn that we are to seek the Lord, but we 
must seek after the due order. David said : ^' Ye are 
the chief of the fathers of the Levites ; sanctify your- 
selves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up 
the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I 
have prepared for it ; for because ye did it not at the 
first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that 
we sought it not after the due order." 1 Chron. xv : 
12, 13. Here we learn that we must seek the Lord's 
favor after the due order ; and the due order is God's 
28 



434 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

order. We must seek in God's appointed way. When 
we ask we must ask in harmony with God's revealed 
will. James says, we ask and receive not, because we 
ask amiss. We must ask in faith^ too ; " for without 
faith it is impossible to please him ; for he that cometh 
to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder 
of them that diligently seek him." Heb. xi: 6. Be- 
lief is an indispensable condition, without which none 
can come to God. But we must believe that he is a re- 
warder of them that diligently seek him. Here we 
have another question for our friend. Does he believe 
that God will reward a man, however diligently he may 
seek him, unless he is one of the eternally and uncondi- 
tionally elect ? Will he tell us ? 

But we will hear Paul on this matter of seeking the 
Lord. He says : '^ God that made the world and all 
things therein, seeing he is Lord of heaven and earth, 
dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is 
worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed 
any thing, saying, he giveth to all life, and breath, and 
all things ; and hath made of one blood all nations of 
men for to dwell on all the 'face of the earth ; and hath 
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds 
of their habitation ; that they should seek the Lord, if 
haply they might feel after him, and lind him, though 
he be not far from every one of us." Acts xvii : 24-27. 

Here we learn that God made of one blood, all the 
nations of men that dwell on all the face of the earth ; 
and that he intended them to seek the Lord and find 
him. And every one that seeks him will find him if he 
seek in God's appointed way. But we need not seek 
him, or call on him until we are willing to obey him. 

" Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by 
the things which he suffered ; and being made perfect 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 435 

he became the author of eterual salvation unto all them 
that obey him." Heb. v : 8, 9. The eternal salvation, 
of which Jesus is the author, is for them, and only 
them, that obey him. And it is not for some of them, 
but it is for all of them. Every one. Obedience 
to him is the condition upon which all men may 
attain to eternal salvation, and it is attainable to no one 
who will not obey him. If there was not another sent- 
ence in the Bible bearing on the subject, this one is 
enough to establish my proposition beyond even re- 
spectable quibble. Will my worthy opponent give us a 
plain, unambiguous exegesis of this passage ? It is 
surely worthy of his most serious attention.* 

Jesus says : " Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do 
not the things which I say." Luke vi : 46. And 
again : " i^ot every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, 
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that 
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Matt, 
vii : 21. N'one but the saved can be citizens of the 
kingdom of heaven ; and none but those who do the 
will of the Father can enter the kingdom ; hence, we 
conclude that doing the will of the Father is an indis- 
pensable condition of salvation. Will my worthy op- 
ponent say that a man can be saved without doing the 
will of the Father, either as saint or sinner ? 

But we must be willing ourselves. Jesus said to the 
Jews : " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye 
have eternal life, and they are they which testify of 
me ; and ye will not come to me that ye might have 
life." John v : 39, 40. Life was set before them, but 
they would not come to Jesus through whom they could 
get it. When beholding the dazzling splendor of Je- 

*Here the hour expired. The following was presented in a subse- 
quent speech. 



436 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

rnsalem, and coiiteuiplatiiig the desolation to wliich it 
would be reduced in consequence of the wickedness of 
the people, Jesus said : '' O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou 
that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are 
sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your 
house is left unto you desolate." Matt, xxiii : 37, 

Does not this show that the wickedness of the people 
brought destruction upon themselves and their city ? 
And they would have been saved had they heeded the 
oft-repeated admonitions of the Savior. Their own ob- 
durate will prevented them from accepting the salvation 
ofiered them. So it has ever been. If men have not 
been saved, it has not been because they could not be, 
but because they loould not obey God, that they miglit 
be saved. If men are not saved to-day, it is not because 
they cannot be saved, but because they will not comply 
with the conditions upon which God proposes to save 
them. 

But why are men condemned? We have already 
heard Jesus say in the plainest terms that "He that 
believeth not shall be damned," and " Pie that believeth 
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed 
on the name of the only begotten Son of God ; " and 
'•^ He that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but 
the wrath of God abideth on him." But we will hear 
him further on the subject of condemnation. " Marvel 
not at this ; for the hour is coming in the which all that 
are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come 
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection 
of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrec- 
tion of damnation." John v : 28, 29. Does this need 
comment or explanation ? They that have done good 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 437 

shall be resurrected to life, and they that have done evil 
shall be resui-rected to coiidemiiatioii. Was ever lan- 
guage more plain ? They that have done good, either 
in coming into the kingdom, or as citizens of it. Why 
do not all do good ? Simply because they will not. 

On this subject Jesus further says : " I was hungered, 
and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and 
ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in 
prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the right- 
eous answer him, saying. Lord, when saw we thee an 
hungered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? 
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in ? or 
naked, and clothed thee ? or when saw we thee sick, or 
in prison, and came unto thee ? And the King shall 
answer, and say unto them, Yerily I say unto you. Inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he 
say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil 
and his angels ; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no 
meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I was 
a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and ye 
clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me 
not. Then shall they also answer him, saying: Lord 
when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stran- 
ger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minis- 
ter unto thee ? Then shall he answer them, saying, 
Yerily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one 
of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these 
shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the 
righteous into life eternal." Matt, xxv : 35-46. Here 
again we learn that obedience to the will of the Lord 
gives entrance into life eternal, and neglect of duty sends 



438 GOSPEL SERMO>:S. 

men into everlasting punishment, whether it be with re- 
gard to entering the kingdom, or the discharge of duty 
in it. Then are not rewards and punishment condi- 
ional ? Surely they are. 

"And to you wdio are troubled rest with us, when 
the Lord shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty 
angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with ever- 
lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
from the glory of his power ; when he shall come to be 
glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that 
believe." 2 Thess. i: 7-10. On whom will he take 
vengeance when he comes ? Those who know not God 
and obey not the gospel. In whom will he be glori- 
fied ? His saints who believe on him, and have obeyed 
him, and have thus escaped his vengeance. 

Finally, we propose to show that the final judgment 
will be based upon the very principle contained in my 
proposition. Indeed, we have already seen that the 
icicked will go away into everlasting punishment, and 
the righteous into life eternal ; that they that have done 
good shall be resurrected to life, and they that have done 
evil will be resurrected to damnation ; and that Jesus 
Christ will take vengeance on them that know not God 
and obey not the gospel, and we insist that these Script- 
ures are sufficient to settle this question fore^ver. But 
our resources are ample, and we can aftbrd to be liberal. 
We therefore invite attention to Romans ii : 4-11 : " De- 
spisest tliou the riches of his goodness and forbearance 
and longsufiering ; not knowing that the goodness of 
God leadeth thee to repentance ? But after thy hard- 
ness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself 
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the 



CONDITIONAL SALVATION. 439 

righteous judgment of God; who will render to every 
man according to his deeds. To them who by patient 
continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honor 
and immortality, eternal life ; but unto them that are 
contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey un- 
righteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and 
anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the 
Jew first, and also of the Gentile ; but gloiy , honor, and 
peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew 
first, and also to the Gentile ; for there is no respect of 
persons with God." This is too plain to need comment. 
God will render to every man according to his deeds ; 
not according to the eternal decree of election which 
settled his destiny before time began. Paul enters into 
specifications — to them who patiently continue to do 
well, he will render eternal life ; but unto them who 
are contentious, and do not" obey the truth, but obey 
unrighteousness, he will render indignation and wrath ; 
and it matters not whether he fails to obey the truth, 
in coming into the church or after he is in; the princi- 
ple is the same. 

John says : " I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God; and the books were opened; and another 
book was opened, which is the book of life, and the 
dead were judged out of those things which were writ- 
ten in the books, according to their works. And the 
sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and 
hell delivered up the dead which were in them ; and 
they were judged, every man, according to their works." 
Eev. XX : 12, 13. 

Every man was judged how ? According to the eter- 
nal and immutable decree of election ? What a ridicu- 
lous farce such a judgment would be! But they are 
judged according to their works. Those who have 



440 GOSPEL SERMONS. 

obeyed the gospel will enter upon the enjoyment of 
eternal Fife, in a glorious immortality ; but those who 
will not obey the gospel will go into everlasting lire, 
prepared for the devil and his angels. 

Once more, John says : " And behold, I come quickly ; 
and my reward is with me, to give to every man ac- 
cording as his work shall be. I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the 
last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that 
they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter 
in through the gates into the city." Rev. xxii : 12-14. 
The Lord says my reward is with me to give to every 
man as his work shall be. They who do his command- 
ments here will have right to the tree of life, and be 
permitted to pass through the pearly gates into the 
city, where God, Jesus, angels, and all will be who have 
washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Will 
they, who have not done his commandments, enter in 
as well? If not, salvation from sin is conditional, the 
condition, or conditions to be performed by the sinner, 
in order to salvation or freedom from sin. 

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter : 
" Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the 
whole duty of man ; for God will bring every work into 
judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, 
or whether it be evil." Eel. xii : 13, 14. 



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